Too Close For Comfort
by imaginationisbetterthanlogic
Summary: Castle gets kidnapped by a very deranged person. (All chapters now spell-checked)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Castle and its characters are not mine and I'm not obtaining no profit from this! I just like to have a little fun with the characters!

A/N: So my head went all brainstorm on me and I had to put this into writting 'cause its such a good idea. At least I think it is.

Kate woke up startled by the shrilling sound of her annoying phone. She glanced at the alarm clock.

For God's sake, it was 4 a.m. Killers should have the consideration to kill people in decent hours. She had barely slept last night between closing a new case - some old lady had killed her neighbour with a frying pan because he had runned over Mr. Fluffers, her cat, with his car. Human kind was deffinitly going insane - and doing the mountains of paperwork that came with it she didn't got a chance to sleep.

She lazyly picked up the phone and pressed the green button.

"Beckett!" she said sleeply.

"Detective Beckett, we have a dead body. We think you should call Mr. Castle and come here as quickly as possible." the alarmed tone of the officer in the other side of the line woke her up a little bit more.

Wait. Had he said that she should bring Castle?! Why?!

Sheseched her head for an answer logical answer. One that didn't set all the alarming bells inside her head in a panicky symphony.

Beeing a homicide detective made her jump to the worst case scenarios. Maybe his mother or his daughter had been murdered and-

No, No. No, no, no, no, no. They were okay. It was 4 in the freacking morning. She had given Castle a ride home and she had seen both his mother and daughter in the loft. Everything was probably all right. She jumped off her bed and headed for the bathroom. She had to hurry.

Then she remembered that she was still on the phone and dispatch was probably still waiting for an answer.

"Okay. We'll be there as soon as we can." with this she hung up the phone and pressed number 3 on speed dial to call Castle.

Castle startled so badly by his phone that he fell off his bed, hitting with is head on the corner of his nightstand. Somehow he had managed to grab his phone in the process of falling. He answer it with a groan.

"Castle!" he lifted his hand to his head. Oh, great. He was bleeding. "Shit!"

"Castle? You okay there?"

"Beckett? Hmm... what?" he asked a bit desoriented.

"I asked if you're okay."

"Oh, yeah. Never better." he lied to no use. Beckett was able to pick the pain in his voice.

"No you're not! What appened? Did you fall off your bed again?"

"I have no idea what your talking about."

"So, that's a yes. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sure. Did you call me just to make me fall off my bed or there is some disgusting dead body waiting for us?"

"You know, those things aren't mutualy exclusive." he heard her chuckle through the phone and couldn't hold back the grin that appered on his face.

It was so good to hear her laugh like that. Soft and open and sincere.

"Are you done laughing at me?"

"Not quite, but I'll let it go." he sighed in mock relief "For now." she added.

He had to smile at that. Oh, the teasing. He could work with the teasing. But before he could give her one of his clever come-backs she was all business and giving him the adress of the place. Then she hung up on him saying something about shower and hurry up.

The adress sounded familiar, but he wasn't realy sure why. It wasn't his part of town. Oh, well he'd figured it out when he got there. Castle glanced at the clock on his nightstand. 4:47 a.m. Honestly, why did killers murdered people this early?!

Kate parked her car directly in front of Castle's building. She knew that he probably wasn't expecting her, but she liked to drive with him riding shotgun. And the officer on the phone especified that she needed to bring Castle with her, and what better way to bring him with her than pick him up?!

She stopped her train of thought. Had she just made up an excuse to justify her picking up Castle instead of him meeting at the crime scene?!

Before she could overanalyze the situation Castle came out of his building with two steamy cups of cofee in his hands.

Did he made that heavanly coffee himself?!

Interesting! And kinda sweet.

She got out of the car, once it was obvious that Castle hadn't seen her car, and called out for him. Well called out was a freely used term. She shouted, really.

Nice Kate. How classy of you!

Castle didn't seem to mind, though. When he turned around he had the largest grin on his face.

Kate looked him head to toe. He was looking good has always, apart from the cut on his forehead.

It seemed like it had stopped bleeding just a couple of minutes ago. It was fresh. Where did he hit his head?! She had never been in his room, so she had absolutely no idea what it looked like, but her best guess was that he probably had hit his head on his nightstand.

All her train of thought stoped when he gave her his heartbreacking smile. Eyes crinckling and pure joy shinning trough them. Nothing to hide in the deep blue of his eyes as he handed her one of the coffee cups. She couldn't help the thankful smile that appeared on her facy, warm and happy.

"Hey!" he said.

"Hi. Where did you hit your head? Have you been fighting Joker or something Batman?"

"You know, it's so hot when you make references like that!" he smiled. Sincere and amused while she gave him her famous eyeroll wich only made him smile more.

Wait. When did he started enjoying the eyerolls?

"No, thanks to you and my all too loud phone I fell off my bed and hit my head on my nightstand, but it's okay. I'm all good. And btw, how did you knew?"

"Knew what?"

"That I'm wearing Batman boxers today?!" her eyes grew a little wide and her mouth hang open for a bit.

Proud of himself, he passed by her and torwards the car.

Kate recovered quickly and entered the car, starting the engine and setting her eyes ont he road has they drove, although every now and then she steeled glances at Castle. Was he serious?! Batman boxers?! She should've been expecting something like that.

Castle just stared out his window taking sips of his coffee, cocky smile in place and amused eyes twinkling.

As they got out of the car they saw multiple officers trying to keep reporters from passong the yellow tape that surrounded the crime scene.

They couldn't get a good view of the actual crime scene, because the sea of officers and reporters were blocking their view.

"You think our victim is famous or something?" Castle asked.

"Don't know Castle. The officer on the phone only told me to bring you, so by this point I already think everything is possible." Castle's eyes became concerned. His grin turned into a press of his lips together and a frown appered on his face. "But it could be nothing, you know. Don't worry. I'm sure everything is fine." he nodded but didn't seem very convinced.

As soon as they aproached the scene the reporters were all over Castle.

"Mr. Castle what do you think of the fact that someone has killed Martin Stark like in your book?"

"Mr. Castle do you blame yourself for the death of Martin Stark?"

"Mr. Castle will you assist the NYPD in this specific homicide?"

Rick looked at the multitude of reporters and took a deep breath to calm down. The torrent of information and questions raining down on him were making him feel a little suffocated.

Where the hell was Paula and why hadn't she informed him of this? Luckily Kate was there to rescue him.

"It's too early to jump to any conclusions. And like all of you know, I can't discuss an on-going investigation. Now if you excuse me." she grabbed Castle by his elbow and dragged him to the other side of the yellow tape, getting him away of the reporters.

"You okay Castle? You kinda froze back there." he opened and closed is mouth several times and then pointed to somewhere behinde her. She turned around.

"Oh God!"

She could see a man, or what was left of him, on the ground, where Lanie was knelling. This wasn't good. Kate wished upon a star that this wasn't other psycho that had an obsession with Nikki Heat.

She looked at Castle and the panick in his eyes.

"It's okay. Maybe it's justa weird coincidence or something..."

"You don't believe in coincidences Kate." The use of her first name wasn't a good thing.

"I'm sure it'll be okay." she gave him a small reasuring smile "Come on. Lanie is waiting for us." he nodded and followed her. Lanie looked up at them with a concerned look. "So what've we got Lanie?"

"Apparently the vic was shoved from there" she pointed at the top of the building behinde her "and then fell all the way down." Lanie said, not meeting Kate's eyes.

"What are you not telling us?" Kate knew Lanie like the palm of her hand. She could tell when she was hiding something.

"The vic had something in his pocket. I gave it to Ryan to take as evidence. You should go and ask him."

Kate nodded and glanced around, looking for the rest of her team.

"Where is he, anyway?"

"He went back to the precinct..." Lanie glanced at Castle with something in her eyes that Kate couldn't quite identify. Something was realy off here.

"Castle, do you mind to go wait in the car? I want to give Lanie a word."

He looked a bit confused and she could see that he was about to protest, but then he seemed to think better of it.

"Hmm... okay. See you in the car then." he turned and went to the car. When he was out of earshot Kate turned to Lanie again.

"What is this all about?" the look in Lanie's face was scaring her more than just a bit.

"The vic's name is Martin Stark and someone shoved him off the building were he lived and he was a businessman."

Kate just stared at her, waiting to see if she had some sort of point. Then it hit her. The realization punched her in her guts so hard that almost made her sick.

"You think that this murder was dedicated to Castle. Realy, maybe it's nothing and-"

"Kate, you're in denial. Also we found a recorder on the dead guy. Apparently after shoving him the killer came back down and putted a recorder in his front pockett." Kate's eyebrows shoot up. "You should listen to it. It has a message to Castle..."

They drove to the precinct in an awkward silence. Kate had no idea of what she could say.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Hmm?! No, yeah- just fine." he looked at her with his bright blue eyes full of concern and fear. "Kate. What if this is like that crazy serial killer guy? What will we do? What if he has a thing for bombs too and tries to blow you up like the other almost did? I can't- I just- Kate, I can't do that again. If you're life is at risk because of me and- I just- I can't lose you again." his eyes were filling with tears, but he wouldn't cry. Not in front of her. Images of that day when her appartment blew up until it was nothing but ashes, when they were both in that damn freezer and she was so cold and he could pratically feel the heat and the life leavinf her body, and the one that still gave him nightmares, when she was shot at Montgomery's funeral. She couldn't do that to him. He couldn't take it again. It was too much. Way to much...

Kate made a sudden movement with the car and parked it with the front tyre on the sidewalk.

"Get out of the car Castle."

"What? What did I do?" a wave of pannic come crushing down on his head. Maybe it was too much for her. He was supposed to be waiting for her. Giving her time. Not making declarations in the car.

"Just get out." she opened her door and got out of the car. His sudden wave of panick calmed down. She was getting out as well. They were okay.

He opened his door and did as he was told. Kate threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. The sudden weight of her against him made him lose his balance, but he quickly recovered and hugged her back.

She was reassuring him. Promising him that it would be okay. Everything would be just fine. He rested his shin on the top of her head and breathed her in.

After a couple of minutes simply hugging him, Kate took a step back and grabbed his hand. Very calmly she landed it on her chest, over her beating heart.

"Can you feel that Castle? It means that I'm alive. I'm okay. Besides I have a pretty great partner that is always there for me. He can save my ass if I get into trouble." she gave him a reassuring smile, open and thruthful and full of promises. "Got it Castle? Now get your Batman covered ass inside off my car or you'll be walking to the precinct."

This was the Kate that he knew. He nodded and felt a bit of the weight that he had on his shoulders desapeer.

"Yes m'am as you wish." Kate smiled at the changed of his humor.

"Good!"

The elevator's doors dinged announcing their arrival to the homicide floor.

When they were reaching Kate's desk, Ryan poked his head out of the conference room and called Castle over.

Oh, this couldn't be good.

Ryan's face was shocked and concerned. That was never good. Castle threw an unsure look at Beckett and then all but dragged his feet to the conference room.

"I think you should hear this, bro!" Esposito was holding a small recorder. The kind that was designed just to record the voice of people on tape. No flash drive or memory card. Actual tape, like they used back in the day.

"Is that the recorder that Lanie found on the vic?"

"Wait, there was recorder on the vic!" Rick claimed looking at her.

"Yeah, about that. Lanie told us to bring and analyse it so we could see what it was. Apparently is for you."

"Me?!" Castle's voice rose a few octaves.

The boys changed a look with Beckett and after she nodded ever so slightly they played the recorder.

A giggling woman's voice come from said recorder, filling up the room.

"Hi! Oh my gosh! I can't believe THE Richard Castle is going to hear this! I love you so much! You have no idea! You're so nice and you smell like coffee and books and you're perfect. I can't wait to meet you! You liked my present? I made it happen only for you. I even found a Mathew Starr. I can't believe you're really going to hearing this. You know, most men are just disgusting. I didn't have to go to much trouble to get that guy up to the roof. But most men aren't you, right? You'd never take advantage of a girl like 're charming and a true gentleman. You're my prince charming. Can you imagine that? Just you and me and all of our kids running around in a big house. Out of the city. We could have a dog and name him Sherlock. And you could carry him around and trane him to carry a magnifient glass. I know that that muse of yours doesn't let you have one, but I would let you! For you I'd do everything. That's why I gave you that present. You like mysterys and I like you! Don't worry, I'll talk to you soon. We could go to Remmy's and have some luch. I can assure you that I'd be a better company that detective Beckett. I don't understand what you see in her anyway. I'd be so much healthier for you. Alexis and Martha would like me too. Oh, gosh. I feel that I already know you all so well. Don't worry. I'll give you another present and then you can hear the sound of my voice again. I'll do it fast so I don't let you hanging on for long. Maybe next time I find a way of you talking to me too. Miss you already. Until next time!"

Castle's face was paller then the dead bodys in the morgue. His knees felt week under him, like suddently his weight was too much for him to handle.

"Bro, you okay?" Esposito asked as he placed a chair behinde Castle, so he could sit down for a second.

The thing that most bothered Castle wasn't the deranged voice on the recorder or even the underlying threats to him. It was the fact that that creepy voice had mencioned Alexis and Martha and Kate. His family. And that putted a fear in him that made him want to murder whomever was behinde that voice...

A/N: So, any thoughts?


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of these character for they belong to Mr. Andrew W. Marlowe and the ABC Studios.

Kate put a hand on his shoulder, which made him turn his head to her. It wasn't usual for her to touch him, besides the hug episode earlier that morning, and now they were at the precinct.

The guys looked at her, at her hand and at Castle and then they gave him a smug look. Ryan leaned over to Esposito and said something that sounded suspiciously like I think Lanie just won the bet.

Beckett gave them both one of her famous glares.

"Guys! Behave."

"Yes, mom!" they muttered at the same time. Kate got her attention back to Castle.

"Hey, you gonna be alright. We won't let anything happen to you." he gave her a little smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. Just a regretful, worried smile.

"It's not me I'm worried about."

"We'll look out for Martha and Alexis as well, you've got nothing to worry about."

"And who will look after you?"

"Do I need to remind you that I'm a well trained, armed cop that could kick your ass."

He chuckled at that. He needed to.

"Oh, detective I only hear promises. I'm looking forward for all that ass kicking you promised." she glared at him, but he knew it wasn't heart felt. Just the usual teasing to lighten up the mood.

"Mom! Dad! Gross!" Ryan said.

"Yeah. We're gonna need some serious therapy to get over that." Esposito agreed.

Castle was going to answer that, but suddenly the phone in the middle of the table rang. They all looked at each other. That phone was only made to call and check up a lead when they were working in that room. No one called them to that phone.

Beckett reached for the phone and answered it, immediately putting it on speaker.

"Beckett!"

"Oh, it's you..." the voice dripped contempt. They all froze. Besides the fact that they haven't heard that voice for long, they all could identify it. It was the same deranged voice of the recorder.

Castle got paler, if that was even possible.

"Well, whatever. Can you call Ricky! I want to talk to him. I have a important message to him."

Beckett glanced at Castle. Make him speak was definitely not the best idea right now. He seemed about to vomit.

"I'm afraid that ain't possible, right now. I'm sure any message you have to Mr. Castle you can send it trough me."

"And me thinking that detectives weren't supposed to lie. Didn't your mother taught you that?" Kate clenched her fists "Oh, right. She's dead." Kate clenched her jaw at that. This was beyond all the lines. Kate was about to answer that when she felt Castle's large hand on her shoulder. Telling her, without any words, that it didn't worth it.

Oh, the hell had he to be like this? Making her lo- care about him so much!

Kate already knew the answer to that. Because he was Castle. Such a simple answer with so many complicated meanings. She let the breath, she didn't even knew she was holding out.

Castle nodded with his head.

Kate understood. He was going to talk.

"Hello. I understand you want to talk to me?"

"Ricky!" the voice loudly squealed "What did you thought of the gift I gave you?"

"Can you please explain me how taking someone's life is a gift?"

"I wanted to bring a bit of your world to our world. You know? So we would be closer? You didn't like it." the voice seemed disappointed.

"No, I did not. And it's not killing people you're gonna make your way to me."

Castle looked at Kate. Her posture was still too stiff for his taste. He frowned at that. He turned around, but Ryan and Esposito weren't there anymore. He lifted a questioning eyebrow to Kate. She pointed somewhere behind her back.

The guys were at their computers, probably trying to track down the call.

"So, what's your name? You know mine, but I don't know yours. Would you mind telling me?"

Castle wished upon a star that he was handling the deranged homicidal fan correctly.

The voice giggled.

"I think you already know my name, don't you? Think. Oh!" the voice all but screamed "I had an idea. I give you three guesses. You get it right and it's all sunshine and rainbows. You get it wrong and I'll be so sad that I'll have to kill someone else." the woman giggled "No pressure or anything!" then she started giggling again.

"Can you give me any clue? I deserve three clues if I got three tries."

"Fair enough! I have the letter K in my name. Twice. I only want to bring a bit of your world to our world to make you happy. Because I'm in your world!"

Okay, this was way to easy!

"Nikki?"

"Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner! Seems like you just saved someone's life! You're just like Batman! Speaking of which, nice choice of boxers today. Bye Ricky"

The line went dead.

"How in the hell did she- She just- what?"

Kate seemed thoughtful.

"Castle, do you get dressed with your window open? Like people in taller buildings can look inside?" he seemed a bit embarrassed.

"Maybe..."

"Let's forget about your Batman underwear for now."

"Dude, you have Batman underwear?" Esposito appeared on the doorway with Ryan close behind.

"Yes, I know you prefer your wonder woman underwear Esposito, but I'll stay with my Batman underwear!" Ryan chuckled while Kate just rolled her eyes.

"He gotcha, bro." Ryan said, giving Esposito a look and earning a dirty one back.

"Male stupidity apart." Kate interrupted "Did you get a location, Ryan?"

"Yes, Central Park."

"Okay let's go." Beckett and the rest of the team grabbed their stuff and where out the precinct faster then anyone could blink.

They got to Central Park as soon as they could, but it was too late. Whoever had been here, wasn't anymore. They looked around. This particular part of the park seemed empty.

The regular commotion of people that usually frequented this side of the park weren't nowhere to be seen.

Castle looked around for any clue. Any indication of the deranged person. He found nothing.

He was about to turn to Kate to tell her that they should get back when the sound of a gunshot sounded in the air. Castle quickly ducked to the floor and looked around for Kate and the boys. They were nowhere to be seen.

"Beckett!" he shouted.

Nothing. The only answer he got was silence. His breathing started to quicken has the worst case scenarios passed trough his mind. There wasn't any more gunshots or sounds after the first one, so he very carefully got up and started walking towards the place where they had left the car. That's when he saw a woman's silhouette near the trees, thinking it could be Beckett he rushed to the place.

The woman turned around and Castle stopped in his tracks has he saw the gun pointed at him.

"Hi, Ricky! What took you so long?" the woman smiled to him and he could see the deranged look in her eyes and her voice. The same voice on the recorder.

Beckett heard the gunshot and rushed towards the place where the sound was coming. She saw Ryan and Esposito on the floor, passed out. She shut her panic down and checked both guys for a pulse.

She hold her breath while checking. Afraid of the worst.

She let out the breath she was holding when she confirmed that both of the guys had they're pulse. It was okay, slower than normal, but okay.

Kate fished her phone in a quick move and started dialing.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"This is detective Kate Beckett, NYPD. My colleagues have passed out. I don't know what happened to them. I need an ambulance." Kate gave the woman in the other side of the line the exact location of where she was and then a single thought come to her mind.

Castle!

She looked around, hoping to find him laying on the floor like Esposito and Ryan, but she found nothing. Kate tried to take a calming breath and shut her cop mind that was running the worst scenarios on her mind.

"Beckett!" she heard him call. The sounded come from so far. She immediately got up and fought the feeling to go running to where he was. The guys where on the floor and the ambulance was coming. She couldn't go running to him, like she so desperately wanted to. But he was okay. His voice came clear and not in pain. That was a good sign, right?

She turned to the sound of an ambulance approaching. The paramedics climbed off and quickly surrounded the boys, checking for pulse, putting oxygen masks over their mouths and carrying them both to the ambulance.

Kate impotently watched.

After a brief talk to the paramedics she knew that the boys were okay and that they would be heading to the nearest hospital, so they could be more thoroughly checked out. She knew that there was absolutely nothing she could do about this, unless call Jenny and Lanie and tell them which hospital the boys where heading.

She did this while walking to the place where she thought she heard Castle's voice last.

When she hung up the phone on a very worried and slightly panicked Jenny she looked at her surroundings looking for him.

Nothing. She couldn't find him anywhere. The most logical thing to do was heading to where they had left the car. Castle would have done that, so she made her way to there glancing around, to see if she could find any trace of Castle.

Her phone was still in her hand. She looked at it and decided that she wouldn't lose anything by calling to Castle. So, she did. Kate pressed 3 on speed dial and Castle's phone started to ring.

Wait. What? Kate looked around looking for it. The sound seemed to come a little more into the park. She rushed to there.

No Castle, but his phone was laying on the ground. She knelt to the floor to pick it up, but caught herself when she noticed that his phone was stained with something red like blood.

Kate's eyes widened. She took a evidence bag from her pocket, she had learn that it was best to keep one with her, and with a tissue she placed it in the evidence bag. Later she would ask Lanie to check it. She prayed to god that Castle had only let it fell off of his pocket.

A wave of despair come crashing over her.

The boys were in the hospital.

Castle was missing.

The only person left in the park was her. All alone. Without partner, without a team.

She tried to keep calm and breath trough her nose. It was going to be fine. Castle was a smart guy and the boys were strong. She remembered the times when she used to have panic attacks. Right after her mother's dead. Breath in. Count to ten. Breath out.

Kate repeated the exercise a couple of times and found out that she had been able to push her panic down and overcome the situation.

With new determination she walked towards the car. She was going to the hospital. Drag Lanie's ass out and make her analyze the blood on the phone. It wasn't exactly Lanie's area of expertise, but sure enough she knew someone in CSU that could speed up the process. She was going to find Castle and the boys would be alright.

Breath in. Breath out.

Lanie arrived to the hospital at the same time as Jenny did. She looked for the nearest doctor but found none, so she went to the reception where was a middle age woman writing on a computer with thick glasses covering her eyes.

"Hello, my name is Dr. Lanie Parish. My two friends were admitted earlier today. Can you tell me where's the doctor responsible?"

The woman absently waved her off while she kept writing on the computer. Lanie clenched her teeth and tried to breath by her nose.

Jenny gently pushed her aside and spoke.

"You listen to me. My husband is in this moment in god knows in what situation, so you will tell me where he is and which doctor his responsible for him" Jenny was leaning towards the woman, pointing a finger at her face while a very surprised Lanie stayed in amazed shock beside her "otherwise, I will make your life a living hell and I'll call your superiors and you'll be royally fucked up!" she kept her voice low and threatening "Are we clear?" the woman nervously nodded and swallowed hard "Now his name is detective Kevin Ryan" she glanced at Lanie's still shocked face "and detective Javier Esposito has been admitted with him here has well."

The woman nervously typed something on the computer and then gave them the information.

"T-they are in room 47. The doctor responsible is Dr. Morrison." Jenny nodded and smiled.

"Thank you so very much." she turned around and started walking towards the room indicated.

Lanie quickly followed her.

"Girl, what was that back there?" Lanie asked with her voice slightly higher.

"What?" Jenny asked innocently "I have no idea what you're talking about." she shrugged.

They got to the room and saw, what they supposed was, Dr. Morrison coming out of the room.

"Hello, my name is Jenny. I'm Kevin Ryan's wife." Jenny shook the doctors hand "How is he doctor?" her face filled with worry and a bit of scare.

"There's nothing to worry about. They were both drugged with some substance that we weren't able to identify. They don't have any permanent damage. They could be a little confused, but they will be alright."

"You don't know what substance was used?" Lanie asked turning into M.E. mode.

"No, but we suspect of some sort of animal tranquilizer. They also have dart marks on their skin like if someone had shoot darts at them."

Jenny was with her mouth hanging in disbelieving shock. Someone had darted her husband like a wild animal?! Sure he could be pretty wild in-

Jenny focused on the matter in hands. This was absolutely not time for that kind of thoughts.

"Thank you doctor. Can we go see them now?"

"Yes, they're awake. But in some time we'll have to check for any side effects."

Lanie and Jenny nodded and muttered their thanks while walking into the room.

Jenny landed eyes on Ryan and rushed towards his bedside, quickly grabbing his hand and giving him a kiss on his forehead.

"Oh, honey are you okay?"

On her side Lanie was standing near Esposito's bedside.

"You scared the crap outta me! Don't you dare do that again. Did you hear me Javier Esposito?"

He chuckled and answered. His voice smooth and calming "Yes, m'am."

Both couples started talking and soothing each other. After a while they heard someone walk into the door and they all turned their heads, seeing the figure of one Kate Beckett walk into the room.

"Hey, Beckett." Ryan greeted.

"Where's your shadow?" Esposito asked.

"Yeah, where's Writer Boy?"

Kate looked at them, but said nothing. When she finally spoke, her voice broke.

"I don't know..." the other two couples changed looks.

Lanie grabbed Kate's arm and pushed her outside, so she didn't felt pressured by all the eyes looking at her.

"Explain."

"I went looking for Castle, but he wasn't anywhere. I found is phone." she took a deep breath "It has blood on it."

Lanie's eyes widened.

"Maybe it isn't his blood. You Know that-" Lanie was interrupted by Kate's phone.

Kate quickly opened it to see that she had a text message. A frown appeared on her face when she couldn't identify the number.

Kate pressed a couple of buttons and opened the text message.

Her eyes suddenly turned white with shock and a little scream escaped her mouth.

"What?" Kate was frozen in place and wasn't capable of answering Lanie. "What?" Lanie got tired of waiting for her friend to answer and snatched the phone from her.

Her reaction wasn't that different from Kate's.

"Oh. My. Holly-"

The message had a picture attached and only three words written on it.

He's mine now!

The picture showed Castle apparently passed out, with his hands held above his head, tightly locked in chains. His shirt was socked through with blood near his shoulder.

Kate couldn't breath. She felt like someone had punched her in the gut and had knocked all the air out of her.

She felt a murderous anger built inside of her. Anger and fear. Not at all a good combination.

She didn't need to be a detective to know who had done this. And Kate couldn't wait to put her hands on that person.

She was going to find her partner.

**A/N: **Hope you liked it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** Castle and his characters are not mine. I'm making no profit with this and blah blah blah...

"Wakey, wakey, sleepyhead." Castle hears someone say. His eyes felt heavy, his head was pounding and he felt the effects of some drug working its final pull on his system. But that wasn't the worst. On top of all of these minor aches he could feel a wave of intense pain on his shoulder.

He tried to open his eyes to see what was happening. Everything was black. Rick blinked a couple of times and his vision started to clear.

The first thing he saw was a woman sitting on a chair directly in front of him, but out of his reach.

She's smiling at him. A wide, deranged smile. She's got her elbows on her legs, her face rests on her hands and she's leaning towards him.

"Well, good morning sunshine. How was your nap?"

The guys got released in that same night. The hospital's lab was full with all sorts of tests for more urgent patients, so they took they're blood samples and got the NYPD crime lab to run it for them. It was going to take about a week or so for them to know what drug was used.

The two detectives got back at the precinct and saw Beckett standing on front of the murder board, her eyes darting all over the board, trying to take all the information in at once.

"Hey." they said at the same time as they approached her.

"Shush." she said. "I'm thinking. I have to find this son of a bitch and save Castle's ass, so if you're not here to help at least don't talk." she snaps at them. And she knows she doesn't have a reason to, but she's moody. After all her partner just got kidnapped by a psychopath.

"We're here to help, Beckett." Esposito reassures her.

"Yeah, what you need us to do?"

Kate bites her lower lip. Her eyes going from the boys to the murder board. She can always count on her boys. Always willing to help. Even when they just left a freaking hospital.

"Shouldn't you guys be resting or something?"

"Nope. Doctor said that the drug thing isn't in our system anymore. We're good."

The frown is still on her face, but she knows that it's pointless to argue. Castle was one of them and they want to help find him.

"Where are we on the animal tranquilizer that you were drugged with? Do we know what it is yet?"

"No. Lab says it's gonna take a week for us to know. And we already speeded it and jumped the line. That's how fast they can work."

A week? No, no, no, no. A week was way to much time. She had to find Castle now. Not in a damn week. She couldn't leave Castle for a week like that. He was her partner. She had to find another way of figuring out where the hell he was. Follow another line of investigation.

Okay, she only had to think. That bitch had said that her name was Nikki. They could run the data base and see if Nikki was in the system.

It was a long shoot, but right now, everything was worth trying.

"Ryan, do a search and see if you can find anyone called Nikki or Nicole Heat. Espo look up for any person that has access to animal tranquilizers. Let's assume that this bitch didn't bought this on the black market."

The boys hurry to their desks and turn on their computers, putting hands to work.

Kate glanced at the murder board and her eyes landed on Castle's photo. It's the same photo from when she arrested him the first time. He was wearing big black sunglasses, so she can't see his eyes, and he has a smug smile on his face, projecting that bad boy's attitude. She remembers when he turned on the bad boy charm and tried to impressed her.

She almost smiles at the memory. Almost.

She turns back to the board to look at everything they got. It's not much.

But the amount of information they had didn't matter. There had to be something that she wasn't seeing. Something that would tell her exactly where Castle was. She only need to find that something.

Everything was blackness and pain. So much pain.

Castle was awake now. His shoulder was the center of his pain. He slowly tries to open his eyes, but the pain his so much that keeping his eyes open is a true challenge, so instead he squints them, trying to understand his surroundings. Nothing looks familiar.

Where is he?! Come on, Castle. Think.

Oh right. Psycho woman kidnapped him. That wasn't good. Beckett wasn't going to be happy by that.

He makes an effort, now knowing that it's important for him to pay attention to where he is. He has to figure a way out. He looks around, again.

No psycho woman in sight, at least there's that. Castle tries to take a deep breath in order to make his brain function again, but he immediately regrets it. His shoulder sends a whole new wave of pain threw his body.

He fights the pain. Fights to maintain conscience, but the bliss of unconsciousness wins over him.

He passes out again.

"Beckett, I got something!" her head snapped to Ryan. The blue eyed detective has been looking intently at his computer for the past hour.

Beckett gets up from the place she was perched on her desk, where she had been looking at the murder board, and walked over to Ryan's desk.

"What is it, Ryan."

"I couldn't find anyone named Nikki or Nicole Heat, but there's a Nicole Strike. She doesn't have an address, but she's in the system. A complain was filed for stalking."

Beckett leaned closer to the monitor, trying to read the information about Nicole Strike.

"Who filled the complain?"

"Take a wild guess."

"Ryan!" she snapped. Now, was definitely not the time to be guessing. Not with Castle's life on the line.

The detective didn't seem to mind her snapping at him. He points a finger to a name typed in the computer.

"Gina Cowell."

"Castle's second wife?!"

"Second the report, Castle was receiving stalker photos with disturbing messages, so Gina filled a complain against the woman."

"How did she know who de woman was?!"

"She appeared at Black Pawn one day, claiming that she had to see Castle. She threatened everyone and gave the security guard another envelope with some disturbing letter. The thing is the cameras caught her and Gina filled a report."

"Wasn't she arrested?!"

"No. Actually she wasn't. She didn't threaten Castle directly. Castle didn't even know she was stalking him, so she wasn't convicted."

"Okay. Where's Espo? Tell him to bring Gina in for interrogation,"

"Esposito's already bringing Gina for questioning."

"Okay. You got anything on the drug she used yet?"

"No, she didn't worked on a coffee shop. I can keep working on that angle and see if she had any friends that work at the zoo or a pet shop or something but-"

"No. Keep on Nicole Strike. Try to find where she lives. Find out what coffee shop she works at." Ryan gave a sharp nod and turned back to his computer.

Kate was making her way back to her desk when her phone went off. She picked her pace so she would get to her desk before it went to voice mail.

She quickly checked the caller ID.

Alexis.

She cursed out loud. She wasn't sure she could handle little Castle right now. How were you supposed to tell a teenager that her dad had been kidnapped by some crazy, psycho fan?

But she couldn't not answer either. She had to. She owed that much to the girl. To Castle.

So, she pressed the button.

"Hey, Alexis."

"Detective Beckett, have you seen dad? I can't reach him on his phone and he always answers my calls. Always. He's with you right?" Kate could hear just a hint of panic in the girl's voice.

"Hmm, actually Alexis I have something I need to tell you. I think it's better if I say it face to face. Can you come to the precinct?"

"Oh my god?! Was he shoot. He was shoot wasn't he?" the slight hint of panic grew at each word that left Alexis's mouth.

"Alexis, I really think that it would be better if I talked to you personally. This isn't something to say over the phone."

"Is-is he dead?" Alexis asked, hesitantly.

"No, Alexis. He's not dead. But I would like to meet you to talk about this. Can you come to the precinct later?"

"I think I can."

"Good. Meet you here in two hours, okay?"

"O-okay."

The line went dead.

Kate took a shuddering breath and pressed the button.

She had to bring him back, safe and sound. For Alexis. For Martha. She had to bring him back to his family.

She had to bring her partner back. No matter what.

The first thing he noticed when he come back to his senses was the soft material under him. He was laying down.

Castle shivered as a waft of cold air hit his bare chest.

Wait. His bare chest?! When had he taken his shirt off?

Something was not right. He blinks a couple of times, trying to see past the pain that was still there.

His brain starts processing the things around him. The soft sheets under him, the roughness of a ligature that covers the his shoulder and wraps around his torso, so it stays in place. He can feel the pull of a good drug on his system.

He tries to bend his knees, grunting with the pain of the effort, and finds he can't. Both his feet were tied to the bed posts of the bed.

"What the-"

He tried to move his good arm next, but it's also ties to the bedpost.

"Shit." he muttered. No way he could get up.

Come on, Rick. Think. You put your characters in situations like this all the time.

He rotated his ankle to see how tight the ropes that bound him are. Pretty damn tight. e couldn't move his ankle.

He hears steps approaching the door and hold his breath, staying completely still. As if he could be quiet enough the woman wouldn't come back. Also when he also still his body hurt less.

But that, of course, didn't do him no good.

The woman stepped trough the doorway and looked at him, a beaming smile appeared on her face when she saw him awake.

"Hello, honey. I'm so glad you're already up. I made you breakfast. It's your favorite."

Castle didn't move a muscle, eyeing the woman carefully.

"Well, don't you want to know what it is?!"

Again, he didn't move a muscle. He just stared at her.

She rolled her eyes at him.

"It's a s'morelet." she stated, tired of his silence "Your own invention. I've been practicing it just for you."

He stared wide eyed at her.

What? How did this woman even knew about the s'morlette? The only times he had done the it was in the privacy of his loft. No one knew about the s'morlete except for Alexis and his mother.

He tried to swallow finding his throat dry.

The woman frowned at him. "I'll just leave it here for you to eat when you're ready. Meanwhile I'll bring you a glass of water."

He took a good look at his capture. Something tugging at the edge of his mind, begging for attention. Something very important.

"It's always a pleasure Mr. Castle." Nikki smiled sweetly at him tilting slightly her head.

When she turned to live the room it clicked.

Nikki.

"I know you." his voice barely audible, the pain turning his voice rough.

Nikki quickly turned around to look at him, something like pleased surprise on her face.

"Do you now?"

He tried to nod. Clenched his teeth has the flare of pain shoot trough him. He breath by his nose, letting out a rush of air. Cleared his throat again.

"You're the barista. From the coffee shop. Nicole."

Nikki beamed at him. "Well, took you long enough darling. I knew you would recognize me when you came to your senses. After all I love and love conquers all."

Nikki set the tray beside him in the bed, straighten up again and started towards the door.

Nikki paused on the door and turned her head around to look at him.

"Don't worry honey, I'll be back soon."

**A/N: **So, yeah... Gina just kinda made her way into this and I couldn't stop her... Also I don't know if Nikki is creepy enough. Maybe I need to make her a little more creepy. What do ya think?


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I own nothing and I'm making no profit with this. This characters belong to their owner Mr. Andrew W. Marlowe.

"Detective Beckett." a familiar voice called from behind her and Beckett flinched. She did not wanted to have this conversation right now.

"Alexis." She exclaimed turning to see the girl approaching her. "Come with me."

She led Alexis to the breakroom. Kate was decided to make this as painless as possible. For both of them.

She took a deep breath while trying to decide the best strategy to deliver the news.

"Just please say what happened to my dad." Alexis pleaded, slumping on the couch. Her head hiding between her hands.

Beckett walked to close the doors and shut the blinds. Apparently Alexis had decided for her.

Just tell her. Like a band-aid. The quicker you pull it off the less it hurts.

"Your father has been kidnapped."

Alexis face froze. Her mouth falling in a perfect 'o' of shock.

"He what?" she asked. Beckett could hear the disbelieving tone and the panic in her voice.

"A woman kidnapped your father. We are doing every thing we can to get him back. Ryan's working on tracking her down and Esposito is bringing in people that are of interest for this case, so we can localize your father and bring him back home safe and sound." No use of telling that it was Gina. She did not want to put any ideas on Alexis head.

Alexis was shaking her head vehemently.

"No. No. That's not- No!"

Kate stepped closer and rested a hand on the girls shoulder.

"Alexis. I know he his your father and how this must be for you, but remember that all of us here are his friends. We all care about him. You know what that means?"

Alexis looked at her, tears in her eyes. Kate could sense that the teen was about to have a breakdown.

Alexis shook her head.

"That means that there's a full precinct with cops and detectives that just can't wait to kick this bitch sorry ass. Everyone is giving everything they got and more to find your father and I'm pretty sure none of them is going to give up. No matter what it cost, we will bring your dad home."

Alexis sniffled and nodded. And then, with the most serious face Kate had ever seen the girl wear, she looked at her and asked quietly.

"Promise. Promise you'll bring my dad home alive."

Beckett blinked and took an involuntary step back.

"I-I promise."

"Okay. You can't break this promise Detective Beckett. Dad's all I got. Please."

Kate nodded, feeling the weight of her promise landing heavy on her heart.

"Oh, God. Have you told grams?"

Oh. She completely forgot about Martha. Shit!

"No."

Alexis nodded.

"Okay. What can I do?" she asked, eager to help.

"Nothing. The better you can do is go home and tell your grandmother what's going on. I have to get back to the investigation."

Alexis got up and looked at Kate with something in her eyes that she couldn't quite place.

"But, Alexis. If you need anything just call me."

Alexis nodded and turned her back on Kate, going for the elevators.

Kate blew a frustrated breath and looked at the coffee machine considering making herself a cup of coffee.

Ryan knocked on the door and opened it. She looked at her seeming concerned and then at the direction Alexis had headed.

"Is Alexis okay?"

"She will be."

He nodded. "Gina's here. You wanna interrogate her?"

"Yeah. Thanks Ryan."

He nodded giving her an apologetic smile and then leaving, so she could have a moment alone to collect herself.

Kate had decided that it would be better to do this in the conference room, so Gina wouldn't feel threatened in any way.

"Miss Cowell-"

"Please call me Gina. I think given the situation we could skip the pleasantries."

"Gina. We know that Castle was being stalked and that you intercepted all the disturbing fan mail that our suspect sent him."

"Yes. I asked my secretary to go get those, so they should be arriving at any moment. I also arranged for the video that shows the stalker to be delivered here."

Beckett raised her eyebrows somewhat impressed. This was being easier than she expected.

"Thank you. Do you remember any specific details that might help us?"

Gina paused and thought for a couple minutes. Kate could almost see the engines turning in her head.

"I think she had brown hair. Hmm. Blue eyes, although I cannot be sure of that. Oh and she had a tattoo in her arm."

"Can you remember what the tattoo looked like?"

"I'm sorry, but no. I think it might have been a feather or something. Like the ones people used to use to write, but I can't be quite sure. The video should be arriving any minute now. It's a high resolution video, so I'm sure you'll be able to tell what it his. Is there something else I can help you with, detective?"

"In matter of fact there is. Why didn't you ever told Castle about this stalker?"

This little piece of information had been nagging Kate for a while now.

Gina sighed.

"Richard doesn't want to know about this kind of people. And they had never proven themselves harmful before. Usually a couple of letters and a couple of snap shoots of Richard and then they get tired or we scare them off with a couple of lawsuits and some very large bodyguards. They don't bother him, really. He only enters into action if any of those people disturb Alexis, Martha, you or anyone that is close to him. And this pictures were taken from a respectable distance. I never thought that this woman could do actual harm."

Beckett nodded and scribbled in her notebook the information.

"And if that's all I'm afraid I have a meeting to attend to. Paula and I have to figure a way to prevent attracting the attention of the media for this. We don't want to complicate your investigation, neither do we want to cause any more stress to Alexis."

Gina gave her hand for Kate to shake and after she did, Gina left.

Something was making his arm itchy. Something very annoying that wouldn't leave his arm alone no matter how much he shook it to try to get rid of the annoying thing. He tried to turn on the bed, but something was restraining his hand - only one of his hands, the other was apparently securely restrained by whatever was enveloping his shoulder - and feet.

Ugh!

He opened his eyes and looked down at his arm.

His mouth fell open in shock when is brain registered that he had a fucking needle inside is arm.

What the heck was going on here!?

He looked around, recognizing the room where he had been restrained ever since Psycho Nikki had kidnapped him.

Wait. There was a tube attached to the needle.

He followed it with his eyes. It finished in a little bag, that was resting on top of the bedside table. A little bag with red liquid that was being sucked out of him and-

Oh my God! She was draining his blood.

Oh God! Oh God! Oh God!

Okay. Okay. Calm down, Rick. You can get out of this one. Plus, Beckett should be bursting trough that door any minute now to save his ass and then she would be pissed at him for letting himself get kidnapped and then he would by her a pony and they would live happily ever after.

Wait. What?!

Apparently having his blood being sucked out of him made him a little lightheaded, stupid and dizzy.

Yes. He was kinda dizzy.

How much blood could someone lose before he died of blood loss?

He wasn't quite sure.

Oh, yup. He was dizzier and he felt he was going to pass out any minute now.

Castle breathed trough his nose and tried to slow the wild beating of his heart, that was certainly not helping.

And the room was spinning.

He closed his eyes. He had to focus.

Castle, focus. A little voice in his brain that sounded much like Kate said.

And suddenly he heard two sets of steps outside.

Two sets of footsteps.

He really hoped that this was only his imagination because otherwise, he was royally screwed.

And then two women entered the room.

Nikki and another that woman he didn't recognized from anywhere.

The second woman was definitely scaring the shit out of him.

Castle couldn't help but notice the differences.

Nikki was a brunette, tall and with deranged blue eyes that screamed craziness. Nikki belonged in a loony been.

The second woman was shorter. Also a blue eyed brunette, but while Nikki's all being screamed out of control deranged, this woman transmitted a sense of cold calculist and sharp intelligence that made her more dangerous than Nikki.

"You shot him." the second woman noted. Her voice was not impressed nor preoccupied.

"Well, I didn't mean too."

"Hmm. It's okay, though. I can fix him up."

Nikki giggled.

"Isn't this wonderful?! We've got him all to ourselves. Oh, can you see how he looks at me? He definitely loves me."

"Yeah." the woman seemed unimpressed and a little annoyed at Nikki. "Hello there Mr. Castle. It's a real pleasure to meet you in person. I'm guessing you can't say the same." she gave him a half-smile seeming amused. "Don't worry. After a while you'll learn your place and then the real fun can begin."

The woman gave him a cruel smile, going around the bed and with one swift move pulling the needle out of him, making him wince in pain. She then putted a band-aid over the needle mark. Kissing her finger and then touching it to his lips.

"Hey!" Nikki complained.

"I'm kidding, sister. Why don't you go get him a glass of water. He seems to need it. Bring him something sweet too."

Nikki glared at the second woman, but left without protesting.

When she was finally out of the room, the second woman pulled a chair and sat next to him.

"Don't worry, we'll get ride of her soon enough."

Castle opened his mouth to speak, but found out that he couldn't. This woman scared him so badly that his voice had run away from him.

She smiled.

"My name is Harmon. And we'll get to know each other very well very soon, Mr. Castle."

Harmon leaned down and kissed him right on the lips. After the initial shock, Castle whipped his head around to get away from her, the tendons on his shoulder and neck aching and his muscles straining against his bindings.

Harmon took a step back and slapped him hard enough to whip the wind out of him and to leave an imprint of her five digits on his cheek.

She made a little depreciative sound in the back of her throat.

"We'll have to work on that later. Don't worry. A couple of months and you'll be obeying me. You just need discipline and a firm hand."

Harmon smiled and took a step back. After staring at him for awhile she sat back down on the chair smiling at him.

Castle was disgusted. Disgusted with himself and disgusted with the woman sitting next to him. But above the disgust he was mostly afraid. Afraid of what might happen to him. Afraid of not being able to see Alexis and all his friends and family again. Afraid of Harmon and especially afraid of her words.

A couple of months, she had said.

Right now, Richard Castle was afraid.

A/N: Nikki was boring me to dead. So I brought a new player to the game. Harmon's way more interesting. Also Harmon is an awesome name.

Fair warning. You are going to hate me for most of this story. I do not plan on letting him escape that easily *insert evil laugh here*

Anyway, enjoy! And review 'cause if I'm doing this wrong I would like to know.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or any other stuff that I may refer here.

They had something!

They finally had a lead that they could follow. A lead that could actually take them somewhere. A lead that could take them to Castle.

Beckett couldn't help but get her hopes up.

She looked once more at the frozen frame that showed the face of Castle's kidnapper.

Tall woman with brown long hair and blue deranged eyes. Looking completely normal apart from her eyes.

She couldn't help but smile a little.

They would find that bitch and nail her to the wall and then Castle would be back. Safe and sound. Or so she hoped.

They were able to track this bitch down by the letters she had sent Castle. Apparently she had been dumb enough to write her address on them. After they checked that the address definitely belonged to a Miss Nikki Strike that worked on a coffee shop they had gotten a warrant for her arrest.

Beckett had been surprised when she found out that the coffee shop Castle usually went to get her coffee was a bit far away from both the precinct and his loft. She would get a chance to ask him why he went so out of his way - literally - to just bring her a cup of coffee.

But right now she had to focus. They were almost getting to the address. And her trigger finger was itchy.

She glanced in the rearview mirror. Esposito and Ryan were still following her, a bunch of back up right behind them with the sirens blasting, making the other vehicles move.

This bitch was screwed.

They were all set and ready to burst into the door. Espo and Ryan were flanking the door while Beckett was directly in front of it. The uniforms were ready to go, spread along the hall.

Beckett pounded on the door three times, hard enough to wake up the all block.

"NYPD! Open up!"

There was no response inside. There was not a sound coming from the other side of that door, what was making Kate very nervous.

She tried again.

"NYPD! We have a warrant. Open the door!"

Still no response.

Beckett looked at Ryan and Esposito, seeing if they were ready. The two detectives nodded a yes with their heads.

Kate soundlessly counted to three.

One...

Two...

Three!

She kicked down the door, the boys swiftly moving in and clearing the living room. Beckett followed suit.

The other officers moved in as well, climbing up the stairs to clear the upstairs rooms, while they cleared the downstairs floor.

After clearing the downstairs floor Beckett started up the stairs where a uniform was waiting for her.

Wait. What?! He should be clearing the rooms. He should- He should-

The uniform gave her a look. Sad, mournfully, pained. Wrong.

They should had gotten there earlier. They should, they should-

Oh God. No, no, no, no!

This was not happening.

"Is- is he-?" she could not make herself say it. She simply couldn't.

Oh God, Castle.

"We found a body-" the uniform started to say and she felt her heart froze, distantly heard the pained voices of Espo and Ryan behind her; she felt like she was drowning, everything seemed far away "-and there's a lot of blood, although there's no evidence of Castle. I mean there's a lot of blood, but until we test it, we can't be sure if it's really his blood or not."

No evidence of Castle.

Right now, as bad as it sounded, that was the best thing she had ever heard.

Castle could still be alright.

She let out a deep breath suddenly feeling like smacking that uniform for making her have a heart attack.

Esposito passed by her, patting her on the shoulder while Ryan stayed behind her.

She shook her head to collect herself and then she started climbing up the stairs again, moving towards the room, pointed by the officer.

Beckett froze as she reached the doorway.

The place was a mess. Blood scattered everywhere. Painting the walls, the floor, every piece of furniture and even in the ceiling. Overall, not a pretty scenery.

Kate immediately recognized the woman lying on the floor, face down.

Nikki Strike aka Castle's kidnapper.

Whomever had killed her, probably didn't liked her so much. From her position, Kate could see seven bullet holes.

"Okay, lets get CSU down here and begin processing the place. Everybody out. I don't want my crime scene contaminated." she ordered.

She left the room along with the other uniforms.

He woke up in a different room.

That was the first thing he noticed.

The room was different and all was quiet.

The quietness was what most concerned him right now, because in New York nothing ever was quiet.

Castle blinked and try to focus his sleepy eyes on the room around him.

The first thing he notice, besides the quietness that clearly indicated that they were no longer in New York city, was that he was no longer tied up. His feet and hand were free. The second thing he noticed was that there was no blinding pain coming from his shoulder were he had been shot. Only a persistent ache was left.

He also noticed that there was a security camera pointed right at him.

He got up from the bed tentatively, being careful not to make any sudden movements.

Apart from the security camera there was nothing abnormal about the room.

There were two doors. One, he supposed, lead him to the rest of the house and the other had bathroom written on it.

There was one only window in the room with its blinds shut. With a swift move he opened the blinds exposing the view.

What he saw shocked him and sent a wave of desperation running down his spine.

There was no city at all. He couldn't even see other buildings or cars. All that he saw was grass. Green grass that ended in a forest.

The realization that he had to be far far away was sinking in and taking him under.

His chances of ever escaping were crushed. Gone in the seconds his brain took to register the landscape.

He was doomed.

Beckett was patiently waiting on the blood results that CSU had collected.

Well, probably the word patiently wasn't the most accurate. Beckett was sitting at her desk, tapping her feet, biting her nails and glaring at anyone who tried to begin a conversation with her.

The evidence they had found in the room where Nikki Strike had been shot was unnerving. There was the remains of rope half tied to the headboard and the feet of the bed. There was bloody ligatures. The sheets of the bed were all covered in blood.

Probably not enough for someone to die of blood loss, but still. It was a lot of blood.

Ad that was putting her on edge.

"Beckett." she lifted her head to see Ryan approaching with a sheet of paper on his hands. By the look on his face he did not bring good news. He cleared his throat "The blood on the sheets was definitely Castle's. The lab was also able to find skin tissue in the rope we found. It's also Castle's."

And everything came crushing down on her again. Every single feeling that made her felt like she was drowning. Always going down, down, down and being not able to get her head above water.

Although she being a very rational person that believe in facts, that was guided by facts nonetheless, one part of her brain still refuse to accept the possibility of him being dead.

"That only proves that he was restrained there. It doesn't prove that he's dead."

"I didn't say he was." Ryan affirmed somewhat defensive, somewhat crushed by the thought of Castle being dead and a lot hurt that she had made the accusation of him saying so.

"I know. I just want that fact clear to everyone. Castle's not dead." she tried to justify herself.

Ryan made a face and nodded.

"Of course he's not dead. He's to smart to get himself dead, besides he wouldn't do it. He would be too afraid of you kicking his ass if he ever died. Hell, if he did that to us, we'd all kick his ass." he said with a forced smile. Ryan was trying so hard to make the situation a little lighter.

Kate gave him a little smile as a reward. Because he deserve it for the effort. Because this was not just taking a toll on her, this was also taking a toll on her boys and the entire precinct.

They had accepted Castle in the family. Castle was family and that was why she needed to pick herself up and do what everyone expected her to do. Get in control of the situation and get Castle back.

She took a deep breath, putting all those well crafted walls around her heart and trying to put the emotional part to the side and get back to work. She would do it for Castle's family, she would do it for the boys, she would do it for Castle and she would do it for herself because truth be told, her poor abused heart would not be able to take something like Castle dying. Her conscience wouldn't be able to deal with it either, because after all she was the one responsible for Richard Castle.

So she looked up at Ryan, with his blue eyes not as shiny and happy as they usual were and the downward curve that apparently had taken residence in the corners of his mouth, and she took control of the situation.

"Okay. So now we know that Castle was there for a while. And we know that our kidnapper is now dead." she got up and started writing the facts that they had on the murder board. "So either he was able to run and shoot the kidnapper or there was a second kidnapper and she or he moved Castle and killed the first kidnapper. Lanie should be calling any minute now about Nicole Strike's autopsy. Where's Esposito?"

"A uniform said he found something hidden in the crime scene and Esposito went to check out what was it."

She nodded pensatively.

"Okay. Going back to the fact that either Castle was able to escape - which is improbable otherwise he had already appeared - or someone moved him. Whichever happened, Castle and the second kidnapper had to leave the apartment. Ryan, see if there's any security cameras in that street. If there's not, check the cameras of the all block. If they got out, some camera must've caught them somewhere."

Ryan gave her a soft smile and nodded.

"Right on it boss." The detective turned on his heels and went to do his job.

Kate sunk back down in her chair. Her control slipping away. She buried her face in her hands so no one could see her suspiciously shinny eyes. She would not cry in the precinct.

She tried to breath slowly, tried to calm herself down.

She only hoped wherever Castle was, that he was okay. Or, at least, as okay as someone kidnapped could be.

Kate needed a break. She got up and went to the break room, decided in making herself a cup of strong coffee and call Alexis and Martha because if this was being hard on her she couldn't even guess how it was to Castle's family. Kate was familiar with losing someone you love, but with the not knowing if that someone was dead or not, if he was injured, she had no prior experience with.

Since that second on, Kate vowed to herself that she would keep Castle's family up to speed. She was a strong believer that the keeping-people-in-the-dark-about-something was neither best strategy nor the best way to proceed.

So she scrawled her contact list looking for Alexis number and waited for the teen to pick up.

A/N: I AM SO EXCITED! I FOUND A SPELL CHECKER THAT I LOOOOOVE!

Ohhhh, you really thought I was going to let him be saved that easily?! Not very sorry to disappoint!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed!


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **I do not own anything you may recognize. And if you don't recognize it, but it exist then I don't own it either.

Castle was sitting on the bed looking out the window and drowning in his own despair.

It took a while for him to shake the impeding feeling of doom off and get up. He had to do something. Start somewhere. He was a writer for crying out loud. He was used to coming up with plans to get is characters from situations like these. How hard could it be to get himself out of this?!

Okay. He had to get his writer brain working. Get out. Get back to his family.

Rick got up and decided to do a little recognition of the house. He started with the bathroom, opening the door to find a perfectly normal bathroom with apparently nothing wrong about it.

He closed the door again and went for the other door in the room that, presumably, led to the rest of the house.

He touched the door and suddenly he was on his knees. The electric current going trough his body and shocking him. Literally.

He let go of the doorknob and gasped for breath.

What had just happened?!

He felt like he had just been tased over and over again.

His breathing was short and harsh as his body tried to readjust, his heart trying to slow down to the normal steady beating and not the fast rhythm that the electric charge had put it in.

When he felt better he slowly got up from the floor, using the wall for support and carefully staying away from that damned door.

Oh, he was dizzy. He was going to throw up. Oh, God! Maybe he should lay down for a bit.

When he was on his back on the bed trying to recover from the shock his eyes glanced at his hand. It was burned.

Holly hell! His hand was freaking burned. Every single inch of skin that had touched that doorknob was now an angry red.

He doubted he would be able to get out of here alive.

A couple of hours had passed when the door to his prison/bedroom opened.

Castle jumped off the bed and walked backwards until his back hit the wall. His blue eyes intent on the woman standing in the doorway.

"Hello, Rick." she greeted with a cold calculated smile that sent a shiver down his spine.

After a while, when the only thing he did was stare back at the woman, she made a distasteful face and said in a harsh tone "Don't be rude. Say hello."

He clenched his jaw and readjusted his posture.

What the hell was he doing standing there like a little girl and letting a woman scare the shit out of him?!

He was larger and taller than her. He probably could tackle her or shove her or whatever and get to the door.

He took an experimental step forward feeling his courage coming back to him. He looked back at Harmon looking for the perfect moment to advance.

She was smiling. The bitch was smiling at him.

"Oh, please. Try to run away. It'll make things so much more fun." she smiled viciously "You already experienced first hand how the doorknobs work, do you really think that you have a chance against the rest of this house that I happen to have equipped especially for you? Get real, honey."

She could be bluffing. She was probably bluffing. He could do this. He could. Just had to run and shove her.

One, Two...

Three!

Castle broke off into a sprint and went straight for the door. To his surprise, Harmon moved aside and let him pass. He run through the hallway and suddenly he was on the floor again spasming as the shock went trough him.

Fuck! Bitch had a taser.

Has he gasped for breath on the floor, Harmon slowly moved towards him like a predator that had its prey exactly were it wanted. Like a predator that liked to play with its food.

"Let me be clearer. When I said it would be fun I meant: fun for me. To you it will be painful and torturing." she said with a normal voice, like taising someone was the most natural thing to do.

His heart was working overtime, making his chest hurt painfully. Breathing was being a hard task, right now.

Castle focused on his breathing while Harmon continued.

"I know that taming you won't be easy, but that's exactly why I chose you. You're perfect. You're what I need. I've been observing you for a while now and I know that you're the perfect person to start with. I'll do what most can't. I'll make the perfect family."

And then she left, leaving him on the floor of the hallway.

It was almost morning again when Ryan finally appeared from his surveillance cameras searching, bearing the sweet, sweet words that Beckett longed for.

"I've got something."

Oh, and what four lovely words.

Beckett was on her feet faster than a bolt of lightning (which was impressive, since she was wearing very, very high heels) and followed Ryan to the conference room where he had been searching for Castle and the second kidnapper.

"What've you got?" she asked hopefully.

"Well, there was no cameras pointed to that specific building, but I was able to find a camera farther down the street that belonged to a jewelry store and I got this."

He pressed play and the images in the TV started moving. showing only the traffic, until Ryan paused it on a specific frame that showed a white van with no logos or whatever other means that could make the identification easier. Inside the van, was a woman with big sunglasses covering her small face and a hoodie thrown over her head; next to her was an apparently passed out Richard Castle.

And that was confirmation that he was still alive. For how long, was what Kate feared.

"Can we see the plates?" she asked.

"Yes. I already ran it through the data base and turns out that the car was stolen. The owner reported it as stolen about a month ago."

"A month?" Kate asked incredulously.

"Yeah. Whomever organized this has been working hard and planing it to the minimal detail."

Kate clenched her teeth; she unclenched them and started chewing on the inside of her cheek, thinking the situation over.

"In the end it doesn't matter how carefully this bitch thought this threw. We'll catch her and all her efforts will be in vain. We have a surprise fact here. She doesn't know how far I'll go to get Castle back." she said calmly.

Ryan gave her a ghost of his usual smile and nodded.

"'Course. We'll get Castle back. Bitch won't even know what hit her."

She nodded.

Yeah. Her team got her back.

And just when her heart had settled a bit, the elevator doors dinged a Esposito walked in followed by a team of officers. All of them carrying at least two boxes.

Kate didn't knew what those boxes had inside, but by the loaded look Esposito was carrying it couldn't be anything good.

They walked in the conference room and deposited their boxes on the table.

"What's this?"

"Some are pictures and some are DVDs. We found it in a hidden compartment in Nikki Strike's house."

"What's in the DVDs?"

"Don't know, but whatever it is there's a lot of it."

He fell. He got up again.

And that became his pattern.

He fell down on the floor, hands and knees breaking his fall. And then he got up again, supporting himself on the walls of the hallway.

Not once he quit. Not once he let himself stay on the floor. As soon as he fell down, he got up again.

Until finally he reached the kitchen where Harmon was apparently cooking.

She had her back to him and there was a collection of knifes on the counter between them. Right there, just staring at him. He could just grab one. Stab her from behind. Look for a way out.

But when he was going to reach for the knives, Harmon turned around with a smile on her face, like she hadn't electrocuted him just moments ago, and a taser gun pointed square at his chest.

Well, shit!

"Honey, I'm so glad you're feeling better. Lets have dinner. Why don't you go sit down at the table?"

He stood is place.

Harmon raised an eyebrow and took a step forward joining her left hand to her right one that was gripping the gun. She was steadying the it, so she wouldn't miss.

"Please." she demanded with a wicked smile.

He raised his hands and started walking towards the table, pushing a chair and sitting down. His eyes never leaving the taser gun.

"Honey, the sooner you get in your head that you're not going anywhere the better. Trust me on this." she said seriously "Now, stay. I'm going to get dinner. How long have been since you've eaten?"

He stared at her for a while until she cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow saying silently that she wanted an answer.

"I don't remember." he said honestly, his voice feeling like gravel from disuse.

When was the last time that he actually talked or ate?!

"Oh, honey. It was a long time ago. Now stay put like a good boy."

And for some reason he did stay put.

Maybe staying put was his best option right now. Maybe it was all about timing. Staying put and make her believe he had quit trying to escape and then strike.

But for now, he was going to stay put and eat something. Do whatever it took to survive.

Or at least, that was what he told himself.

**A/N: **Not quite as good as I'd like it to be, but the best I could do.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** If you recognize it, I don't know it. In fact, I own nothing here.

She was sitting in the chair across from him, carefully watching him while he ate the food she had placed in front of him.

He hadn't eaten for a while now and he was so very hungry that he was taking large bites at a time.

Harmon had the taser in one hand, trained on him and was supporting her head with the other hand.

"You're adorable." she stated calmly with a tiny smile gracing her lips.

His eyes darted from her to the taser and back to her again.

"If I'm so cute why do you have a taser pointed at me?" he asked feeling a bit brave.

"Safety measure. In case you try to run away."

He finished eating and took a sip of the glass of water in front of him.

"Can I ask you why did you kidnapped me? I mean, why me?"

She smiled at him, and for a second he saw the real woman behind the fake smile and vicious trigger finger.

"Well, I think that everyone should get a shot to be happy, right?! So what I ask is why the hell can't I find my happiness?"

"Uh, try starting by not kidnapping men."

She cracked a smile seeming amused.

"Smartass. Well, I tried the real world and it did not work so good for me. The only men that are truly good are the ones in books and I figured since you write books for a living you should know how a really good man is, right?! And I've been observing you. Behind the entire playboy, devil-may-care facade that you put for show, you're a really great guy. I saw how you acted around your daughter and mother and how you acted with detective Beckett. You're a remarkable man, Richard Castle." she said.

He snorted and pushed his chair forward, placing his elbows on the table and resting his head on his hands.

He forgot he was being held against his will and right now, all he was facing was a woman that was desperate enough to try and force her happy ending to happen.

"Tell that to my two ex-wives and my ex-girlfriends."

"I can't understand how dumb they both were to not pay you any attention. To not try a little harder. You are a keeper. You are just perfect. You are what every woman dreams to be her future husband. You're great with kids, you're a good listener, you're a writer - which is delicious - and you cook." she said with a smile.

"Valid points, but I still don't understand what made you get to the point that kidnapping me seemed like the best thing to do."

"Well, after my boyfriend offed himself I went a little... crazy. The people in the hospital said something about acute stress or something, I don't know. What I know is that I needed someone that would not do that again. And I needed someone that was a little like fiction and there you come. All mystery writer, playboy, honest man charm and a bit fiction and a bit fact and you have a daughter and a mother. You wouldn't kill yourself. You wouldn't do that to your daughter."

He nodded, seeing the twisted logic in that, and leaned back.

He could get that. The emotional trauma of losing someone so close to you was too much for some people. There was nothing wrong in trying to reach your happiness.

Rick shook his head, suddenly scared by how he was giving his kidnapper reason to do what she did.

It was illogical. You can't kidnap people just because you're too tired of trying.

It was what he kept telling himself. Telling his brain to understand. And it was a civil war in his brain.

What Harmon did was wrong, but it made sense. It was for a good, yet selfish, reason.

It made sense to him. And right now that was scaring him more than the taser pointed at him.

Castle was on the DVDs and photos.

Castle was everywhere.

It was literally thousands of stalker-photos of Castle. He walking down he street with her. He was walking into some coffee shop. He was walking and laughing with Alexis through some park.

Everywhere she looked, there he was.

The boys had spread the photos trough the conference room table in such a way that she couldn't see the table anymore, just photos of him.

The boxes had been thrown to a corner on the floor and the DVDs were piled on the chairs, waiting for Ryan to get through them.

It was almost midnight and they had nothing. Zilch, nada.

She huffed a breath and slumped down in one of the chairs that weren't filled with DVDS.

Kate passed both hands through her hair making a mess of it.

"This is useless."

She was irritated and loosing hope and losing her mind and losing everything, really. If she didn't find something fast she would lose Castle too.

"You're wright." came a steel voice from behind her.

She flinched when she recognized that voice as being Captain Gate's. She slowly turned around to see her Captain standing in the doorway with her arms crossed.

"And that's why I want you to take a break and go home to get some sleep, detectives."

"Sir-" Beckett started, to no avail.

Captain Gates cut her off immediately "No buts detective. I am too, concerned about Mr. Castle's life and I understand the delicacy of a situation such as kidnapping, but you're all exhausted and if you don't get some sleep I'll have three detectives passed out in my precinct and that is unacceptable. So you three go home and come back tomorrow. And that's an order, detectives."

And then she stormed off again, not leaving any space for protests.

"We're staying." Ryan quickly affirmed.

"Yeah, no way we're leaving with Castle missing." Esposito supported.

She nodded. She didn't want to leave but she could feel her eyelids getting heavier and heavier and she could see that the boys weren't in their best shape after being shot with some kind of drug.

And she could hear Castle's voice in her head whispering a quiet "Superheroes have to sleep too, Beckett. Why don't we call it a night and you can come back to your beloved paperwork tomorrow?!"

"She's right. We should all go home. Have a couple hours of sleep and then get back here first thing tomorrow."

"You sure, Beckett? We can stay!" Esposito asked.

Was she sure? No. Was it the best thing for all of them, Castle included? Maybe.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Go and sleep, boys. Be back here tomorrow morning at seven."

"We'll be here at six." Ryan answered back, earning an elbow in the ribs from Esposito. She just smiled weakly and went to her desk to grab her coat and her purse so she could go home.

The boys quickly gathered their stuff and left with the promise to be here tomorrow at six.

And Kate was ready to leave too, but when she looked back she couldn't help it. She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep a lot. Maybe two hours if she was lucky enough.

So she went back to the conference room and brought a couple of photos and DVDs with her and Nikki Strike's file.

And then, with that safely tucked inside her purse she felt she could go home.

It was one a.m. and Alexis Castle was twisting and turning in her bed, trying to sleep.

When she realized she wouldn't be able to sleep, she got up and walked downstairs for a glass of milk. It had always helped her to sleep when she couldn't. Her dad used to give her a glass of milk every night before bed. She missed her dad so much that she could cry. Crying would help her, but she had already cried everything and her body felt tired and drained. She didn't have the force to cry again.

She clutched the phone, that she carried everywhere since detective Beckett had promised that she would keep them updated, tighter on her hand and downed the glass of milk.

She was so tired that she hadn't the force to get back upstairs.

She glanced across the living room and her eye caught her father's office. She asked herself if it would be silly of her to go sleep in her father's bedroom where everything smelled like him.

She decided that it wasn't, given that her father had been kidnapped and was now in an unknown location.

She pushed the door of his bedroom behind, half expecting her father to be there with sleepy eyes and a kind smile saying that yes she could sleep in his bed, that it was okay to have a nightmare every once in a while, pumpkin.

She used to run to her father's room when she was younger and she had had a nightmare and her room seemed just too big and with too many places for the monsters to hide. When that happened, her father was always there with a kind smile and a safe haven for her to borrow and hide from all the bad monsters.

Of course that when she grew up, she wouldn't do that anymore. She had stopped when she was about seven. But even when she refused to run to her dad, he always knew when she had had a bad night. He would always make her pancakes and say something funny and then he would take her to places like the museum or the park or the zoo where he made up a million magic stories.

Alexis tip toed to the bed and laid down, throwing the covers over her head, still clutching the phone in her hand.

After a while, when she let her dad's smell surround her and make her feel safe, the phone went off in her limp hand, making her startle and sit upright.

She looked at the caller ID, but her phone hadn't been able to identify the person calling her.

She frowned and tapped the button to answer.

"Hello?"

"Alexis." the voice breathed in the other side of the line, low and so familiar.

"Dad?" she sobbed.

"Oh, pumpkin. I miss you so much."

"Dad! Where are you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, pumpkin. Don't worry about me."

"Don't worry?! Dad, I don't even know where you are! How do you expect me to not worry?"

"I'm okay, pumpkin. I swear. It's going to be alright. I promise."

"Dad." she cried, the tears streaming down her face like a waterfall.

"Doesn't matter what happens, remember that I love you, okay? Tell that to grams too, okay? I love you. Never forget."

"I love you too, daddy."

"I have to go now, pumpkin but I'll call you later. Daddy loves you."

And then the line went dead, leaving Alexis staring at the phone and crying.

"See, Rick. I can be a good. Now, you have to be a good boy and don't try to run, otherwise your calling privileges are over and I will strap you to the bed and make a tattoo in your chest with one of my kitchen knifes, got it?" she threatened with a calm voice and a vicious smile.

He stood inside of what was is bedroom in that strange house, eyeing suspiciously the taser gun that Harmon still had pointed at him.

He nodded slowly, because what else could he do?! The woman had let him talk to his daughter and that was way more than you could ask of your kidnaper, right?

He took a step back and let Harmon shut the door. And only then did he let the lonely tear in the corner of his eye escape. Only then, for the first time since he had been kidnapped, did Richard Castle cry.

**A/N:** Yeah, I don't know what I'm doing either! Anyway, just bare with me, would you?

And cookie points if you can guess what I'm doing here!


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I disclaim all ownership of all the things I may mention and/or characters.

She couldn't sleep.

Every single time she tried she found that she was incapable and she was so damn exhausted. Just so damn exhausted.

Kate turned on the bed and curled on herself, facing away from the window and stubbornly closing her eyes in an attempt to lure sleep. But it was pointless. When she closed her eyes and tried to rest, images of Castle flooded her brain. And not good images either.

Every time she closed her eyes she could see him dead and bloodied. She could see his wrists locked in chains as his arms were held above his head. She could see the blood stain on the sheet of Nikki Strike's house and wondered what could have caused it. She knew he was alive, but she didn't know in which state she was going to find. Because she was going to find him.

She was.

She got up and moved to the living room, dragging a blanket with her. She was just going to see the photos that she brought with her for a while and then she would go to bed. She would. She just had to examine a couple of them so she could be a hundred percent positive that she hadn't missed anything.

Kate sat down on the couch and wrapped the blanket around her, grabbing then the photos that rested on top of her coffee table and putting them in her lap so she could go over them one by one without accidently passing any.

She picked the first one and examined it.

This picture featured Castle walking alongside her, his head was turned to her and he had this smile on his face that was just so tender and lo- caring. She was looking ahead, focused on whatever they were doing.

She let her eyes settle on his face. The open lines, the happy expression and the blue eyes that were solely focused on her.

She shook her head and put the picture aside, grabbing the next one.

There was Castle again, leaving a coffee shop with two coffees in hand and a smile on his face. His blue eyes happy and focused as he apparently dodged a man that was passing on the street, trying not to spill the coffees.

Nothing useful on this one either.

She passed to the next picture, and there was she and Castle again, this time sitting in a table at Remy's. This picture seemed to had been taken from a table close to theirs. Castle was leaning forward as he stole a french fries from her and she swatted his hand away from her fries.

It was ridiculous, really. The man always ordered his own fries but he had to steal hers affirming that hers just tasted so much better.

She shook her head and smiled.

The next picture was also them at Remy's, but this time Kate was leaning forward like Castle and he had this happy expression and that silly, honest smile that always turned his lips upward and crinkled his eyes in the corners. But that was just Castle to her; what really amazed her in this picture was her own smile. The way she was leaning forward and smiling at him and just having fun. She was just love eyeballs all over him.

She had fun with Castle. She had fun like she used to have before her tragedy, when her mother was still here and she took her ice skating and laughed at her every time she fell.

Castle was fun and he made it easier. He made it all easier.

Kate carefully placed the pile of pictures back on the coffee table and laid down on the couch, pushing her knees towards her chest and nesting there. The picture still in her hand as she smiled like a silly teenager in love.

She sighed and decided to stop fooling herself because she was in love with that man and apparently there was nothing she could do about it. She just had to accept it and save his ass.

And then she did fell asleep.

She felt like she had just fallen asleep when her phone rung loudly, startling her and almost making her fall out of the couch.

She quickly reached for it and answered it with her usual "Beckett!"

Someone sobbed in the other end, making Beckett sit straighter in her couch.

"Hello?" she tried again.

"Detective Beckett." Alexis said in a sob.

"Alexis? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just- I need- My dad called me."

"What?"

Alexis sobbed again "Dad called, saying that he was okay and for me not to worry that everything would be alright. And I just- I had to call you, because this can help you find him, right?"

"Yeah, yeah."

She gulped down, trying to talk past the lump that had formed in her throat.

Castle had called Alexis. They could trace the phone the next time he called. They could find him.

She glanced at her father's watch. Two-thirty a.m. There would be nobody in the precinct at least until six a.m.

She could still hear Alexis crying in the other end.

"Alexis, I need you to calm down for me. Can you do that?" she paused a bit and then continued "That will help us find your father, but we can't do anything until six a.m., so I need you to calm down and in the morning you can meet me at the precinct. We'll trace the number and find your father. This is a good thing, Alexis. It might be the break we needed. We'll get your father back. I promise."

Alexis seemed to have calmed down.

"Do you understand what I'm saying, Alexis?"

There was a tiny sob and then a shaky "Yeah." came from the other end of the phone.

"Okay, good. You should try to sleep now. This a great thing. We'll get your father back."

"Okay." the girl said from the other end of the phone and Beckett nodded despite knowing that she couldn't see her. "Detective?"

"Yes, Alexis?"

"Thank you. For looking for my father."

"It's my job, Alexis." she stated calmly. And it was true. It was her job, but Castle was her partner too and she had to find him, because if she didn't, it might break her and that had nothing to do with her job.

"Okay. See you tomorrow, detective Beckett."

"See you tomorrow, Alexis." and then the girl hung up, leaving Beckett thinking that this might be it. This might be the thing that would lead them to Castle.

Tomorrow could be the day that they got Castle back.

The next day, when Kate got to the precinct, Ryan and Esposito were already there, studying the photos and videos and trying to find someone in Nikki Strike's house that might be involved in Castle's kidnapping.

It was good to see her boys rested and working again. It gave her a sense of getting somewhere. Especially now that they might be able to track Castle's exact location.

She sat down and explained to the boys how Castle had called Alexis and that the teen was going to come over with her phone, so they could track Castle down. The boys brightened up a little and started working with a little more purpose, because now they had a lead that could take them somewhere. That could take them to Castle.

So she sat beside them and went trough the photos with the boys looking for something. A reflection of the person behind the camera or something suspicious in the angle of the photos. Something. Anything.

They had been observing photos for about an hour when Alexis finally -finally! - arrived.

And Kate could admit that the teen was in bad shape. She had bags under her eyes and her hands where shaking while clutching her phone tightly.

She saw Kate and advance towards the conference room where all the three detectives were.

"Hello, Alexis." Kate greeted.

"Hey, Little Castle." Ryan and Esposito said at the same time, drawing a faint, shaky smile from Alexis.

Alexis waved her hand and stood in her spot, seeming uncertain in what to do.

"Can I see your phone?"

Alexis nodded and handed her phone over to Kate reluctantly.

Kate gave her a small smile and said "Why don't you sit down? Detective Ryan is going to run the number trough data base and see if we have any hits. Do you want something from the vending machine? I can make you a hot chocolate."

"No, thanks." Alexis politely denied. She was more concentrated in the exhibition of photographs that were covering the table, her eyes traveling and never focusing on one point, trying to take it all in at once. "This is all of my dad?" she asked in a small voice.

"Yeah. We found it in the first kidnapper's house."

"What are you doing with it?"

"We're trying to see if we find any reflection of the person that took this photos. We know that Nikki Strike had a stable job in the coffee shop your father frequented and some of this photos were taken while she was at work, so they had to be taken by someone else. We believe that that person is the one that has your father now."

Alexis nodded while Kate spoke, her eyes still traveling in the sea of photos.

"You're looking for reflective surfaces that might have caught the kidnapper?"

Kate smile, impressed, and nodded her head once.

"Can I help?" the teen asked.

She should say no. If Captain Gates saw that they had Alexis helping them she would probably kick the teen out. But she couldn't. Not while looking at Alexis eyes so much like her father's and not when that would be so hypocrite of her. It wouldn't be fair that she got to investigate her mother's murder, but that Alexis couldn't help in the investigation of her father's kidnapping.

"Yeah, of course. You know what to look for?"

Alexis nodded and promptly grabbed a handful of the photos, placing them in her lap and examining each one carefully and methodically. Kate could see her eyes going from left to right and up to down, so she wouldn't miss a thing.

Alexis was a very smart girl and Kate knew that whatever she decided to do, she would be the best at it.

He woke to excruciating pain on the right side of his chest. Something that was perforating his flesh and leaving a trail of hot blood behind, that he could now feel running down his chest.

He opened his eyes to see Harmon hovering over him with a knife, drawing something on his chest. Her face tight in concentration.

She noticed that he was awake and gave him a big bright smile.

"Hello, darling. I'm so glad you are up already. Now I can tell you what I'm doing."

He tried to roll over or push her off with his hands, but both his hands and feet were tied to the bed.

Shit, not again!

Harmon grabbed a cloth and stuffed it in his mouth.

"You better bite down on that, because this is going to hurt. A lot." she said you a smile "So, like I was saying. What I'm doing is marking you as mine. For life. Just a little reminder of your stay here. Not like you're ever going to leave, but I want something to remind you that if you try anything and I mean anything at all, the things I will do to you. The ways I'll hurt you, will make you beg me to kill you. Now stand still and don't mess my work of art."

Harmon took a step back and examined the cut she had done on his chest. She lightly shook her head as if not happy with it. She advanced on him and climbed on top of him, straddling him and placing a hand on his bare stomach for support. Then she started cutting into him again.

He could feel it, cutting deep into his chest but not hitting bone. His fist clenched on the ropes. He could feel what she was doing. She was carving her initial on him, like if he was some three or park bench.

Rick bit down on the cloth in his mouth has hard as he could, but that didn't alleviate the pain that was coming from his chest.

He could feel his blood running slowly down his torso and pooling on the bed under him.

"All done." she stated with a triumphant smile. "Think of it like your own prison tattoo of some sort."

She accessed the wound she had made and then she grabbed a cloth from the bedside table and wet it in a substance that was in an unmarked bottle.

Rick could smell it from where he was. It smelled like chloroform.

He tried to turn his head to the side, but Harmon gripped his chin with a firm hand and, after taking the cloth that she had placed in his mouth, covered his nose and mouth with the cloth covered in chloroform.

He shook his head violently to no avail. The smell of it was already penetrating his nose and he was already losing consciousness.

"Now sleep, darling. You made quite a mess and I'll have to clean it."

And those where the last words he heard.

**A/N:** Just a warning that my first round of exams are starting next week and I'll try to update as soon as I can, but don't panic if you don't hear for me for the next couple weeks.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** I'm not claiming anything.

It had been half an hour and Ryan and Esposito had yet to come back. She didn't knew what the problem was, but the time they were taking was making her uneasy.

"His this her?" Alexis asked suddenly.

Kate's head snapped to look at the picture Alexis was holding out to her.

It was the one that Ryan had been able to get trough a security camera. Castle and whoever the woman was in the van.

"Yeah." Kate said, her voice breaking a little.

Alexis looked back at the picture examining it.

"What's the tattoo she has on her arm?"

Tattoo?

"What?"

Alexis nodded her head and turned the picture to her, pointing out something on the arm of the woman.

Kate took the photo from Alexis and examined it more closely. And there it was. A peek of a tattoo on the arm of the woman. Kate furrowed her eyebrows trying to understand better what exactly it was.

"It's like a..."

Alexis took the photo back from her and held it close to her face.

"It's dad's signature." she said suddenly.

"What?"

"Yeah, that's how dad signs his name."

Suddenly something clicked in Kate's brain and she reached for her phone, quickly taking it out of her pocket and speed dialing Lanie.

"Hey, girl!" Lanie greeted.

"Lanie, what's the tattoo that Nikki Strike has on her arm?"

"Oh, it's like a signature or something."

"Can you take a picture of it and send it to me?"

"Yeah, hold on a sec." Lanie hung up and after a while Kate's phone vibrated with a new message.

She quickly opened it and examined the close up picture that Lanie had sent her of Nikki Strike's tattoo.

It was the same.

Kate held her breath. It was a thin connection, almost nothing, but it could lead to something. They had to pursue every line of investigation available.

"Alexis, grab your coat. We're going on a road trip."

Kate knew this was a long shot. It was not even a long shot. In a long shot you can see your target, this was more like a shot in the dark where you just fire and wish upon a star that you hit your target.

But she had to try. She had to. She wasn't about to quit on Castle.

Alexis was sitting beside her, bitting her nails and looking outside the window.

"Do you love him?" Alexis asked suddenly making Kate choke on a breath.

"What?" was all she was able to say on a high pitched voice.

"My dad, do you love him?"

"I- I- Alexis is complicated and-"

Alexis huffed a breath.

"I hate that word." she cut her off "It's not complicated. Or you love him or you don't. It's as simple as that."

Kate sucked in a breath, deliberating what to tell Alexis.

"You know that I hated you?" she asked suddenly "When you were shot and my dad just threw himself in front of a bullet for you, just like that" she said snapping her fingers "Just like that I could have lost my father over you. He's all I got. And you should've seen how it broke him when you almost died. But he got you back, like a miracle and then he lost you again during the summer. And I watch him break a little more every day and that's when I really, really hated. He promised to me that he wouldn't go back. Said it over and over again. He would quit and he would finally get over you. And then you come back and with a couple of words there he is again. Following you like a lost puppy. And I got mad at him for it too. For being so weak. And I asked him if you made him happy and if it was enough. He said yes. So please tell me that my dad didn't broke a promise to me and jumped in front of bullets for nothing."

Kate listened, her hands gripping the wheel so tightly that her knuckles turned white, her teeth clenching with so much force that it was beginning to hurt. And it was not only her teeth that hurt.

Kate glanced at the girl that had leveled an intense stare in her direction.

"Yes." she answered finally.

"Yes?"

"Yes. I do love him." she said in a quick breath.

Alexis face opened into a slow, beaming smile.

"Good." she stated simply, resting her head on the car sit and closing her eyes briefly.

That was it?! No more judging?! No more bitterness?!

Kate kept glancing at the girl while they drove to the tattoo shop that was closest to Nikki Strike's house.

She parked the car directly in front of the shop and got out. Alexis following suit.

The tattoo shop had a little bell over the door that rang as Kate opened the it, making a tattooed girl with a a bored expression appear.

"Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD. I'm here to ask you a couple of questions."

The girl behind the counter lifted a pierced eyebrow at her.

"Am I in trouble? Because I can assure you that everything in here is a hundred percent legal."

"No, you're not in trouble. I wanted to know if this is your work or the work of any tattoo artist here."

Kate slid her thumb trough the screen of her iPhone to unlock it and pulled out the picture with Nikki Strike's tattoo.

The woman that Kate hadn't gotten the name analyzed the picture carefully and slowly nodded her head.

"Yeah, that was me."

"Do you know the two women who came by to do the tattoos?"

"Wait a second. We keep files here for matters like these."

The woman took a big dossier from under the counter and looked for the right page.

"Oh, yeah. There were too women. Nikki Strike and Harmon Strike. Sisters, I think."

Kate took out her note pad and scribbled the name on it.

"Thank you very much."

She looked at the note pad as she left with Alexis following her.

Harmon Strike.

She rolled the name around her tongue to see how it tasted. How exactly it sounded.

"Now what?" Alexis asked.

"Now we go into the precinct and do a background check on this bitch." Kate said resolutely, flinching when she swear. Alexis dismissed it with a wave of her hand, reminding her of Martha and got in the car.

Turned out Harmon Strike was a crazy person that had been submitted into the loony been after her long date boyfriend offed himself, although the M.E.. that had made his autopsy did not clear out if it had been really a suicide or a murder.

Harmon Strike had to be submitted to anti-psychotics after that. The heavy kind of drugs.

Beckett called the hospital where she had been submitted. They said that she was potentially dangerous and homicidal. They said that Harmon Strike had unstable mood swings and they suspected that she had a double personality disorder, although her shrink hadn't come to any definitive conclusion about that.

They said that somehow she had escaped and if she didn't take her meds fast, she would become an unstable person capable of unspeakable things.

She had escaped from the hospital so she didn't have a current address or a driver's license or anything for that matter. The woman was untraceable.

The boys had tried to get a GPS location on the number that had called Alexis but it was off.

So right now they were left to the hardest part of the process: the waiting.

They would have to wait for Castle to call Alexis again and wish upon a star not only that he did call again but also that he stayed on the phone long enough to trace the call.

Alexis was still going over the photos that where on the table, organizing them into piles.

Kate could see what she was doing. She was grabbing something and taking control of it. She felt lost in an uncontrollable situation and she was freaking out a little, so she took control in something small that would occupy her mind and make her feel not so lost. That was why Kate decided to join her.

"What are you doing?"

"Organizing these into piles."

"Can I help?"

Alexis looked at her and nodded her head with a tiny smile.

Kate sat beside her as she explained how she was organizing it.

"Here" she said tapping a tall pile of photos "are the ones with you and dad. Here" she tapped another pile "are the ones with dad and me. Here, the ones with dad and Grams and here are the ones with dad and detectives Ryan or Esposito. Here is dad alone and here is dad with other people."

Kate nodded and Alexis passed her half of the pictures. She began to pile them, noticing that the ones that featured her and Castle made the tallest pile by far.

They had been doing it for a while when Alexis phone went off by her side, making both the detective and the teen startle.

Alexis sucked in a breath and picked up the phone, quickly putting it on speaker.

Beckett got up and made a gesture for the guys to start tracing the call and then she got back to Alexis.

"Dad?"

"Hi, sweetie." the voice said from the other end of the line and she sighed on relief, because he sounded okay.

"Dad! You're on speaker phone. I'm with Kate."

She sucked in a breath and heard Castle do the same.

"Kate-" he breathed, his voice cracking a bit.

"Castle." she said back, not quite sure on what to say.

"Dad, we're going to find you."

"I know. I trust you."

Beckett glanced at the boys that were waiving a paper at her with victorious smiles on their faces.

"Just hold tight Castle we're coming to get you."

**A/N:** Just wanted to let you know that I'm aiming for 15 chapters so there will probably be 6 more of this. Also I wanted to thank **NinaK.05** for the help with a very important detail, because without it I would probably still be torturing Castle.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** I hereby disclaim all ownership of everything.

They moved silently towards the address that they had. No sirens on.

The country house where they had traced back the phone was truly in the middle of nothing. There was a dirty old path that led to the house and that was the only indication that there was any type of life in this part of the country. Everything around them was planting fields and woods.

The big downside of having a dusty path full of rocks was that the cars made a lot of noise traveling it, somewhat stealing them the element of surprise.

She had four squad cars with her and an ambulance with paramedics waiting outside of the line of fire. Just in case.

It was a little one story house with white walls and a cute blue roof, well-kept considering its location.

Two squad cars went to the back of the house while the remaining squad cars stayed upfront with her and the boys.

The cars were parked sideways so it blocked the dusty path to the house.

She got out of the car and cocked her gun, reading it to fire.

Kate looked back at the boys and saw that their guns were also ready to go.

Everything was set and ready as they advance to enter the house, but before they could reach the porch, the front door swung open and Castle came stumbling out, tripping over his own feet and having difficulties in focusing his eyes.

"Castle." she breathed out lowering her gun.

His eyes immediately flew to her, gaining focus and consciousness. He blinked a couple of times and looked around, before focusing is eyes back on her and taking a step forward.

"Not so fast, darling." a woman spoke from behind him, making Beckett tense again and raise her gun.

Castle was much taller and larger than the woman behind him, making a perfect shield. The woman, that Kate deduced had to be Harmon, peeked her head from behind Castle like a little kid, taking a long hard look at her and then scanning the view painted with cops.

"I see you brought your friends with you. I brought a friend with me to." she said showing partially a knife that was being held to Castle's back.

Kate clenched her teeth.

"Drop the weapon and let him walk away." she barked.

Harmon laughed, making Beckett's grip on the gun tighten and her trigger finger get itchy.

"How cute." Harmon continued "She thinks it's going to be easy." Harmon stood on her tiptoes and stage whispered in Castle's ear, making him flinch slightly "I'm not letting go of you that easily."

Castle seemed now much more alert of everything around him, his blue eyes open wide and his face in a frown of pain.

His eyes focused on her and stayed on her face.

She was this close to having him back. If she played this right she would get him back within minutes.

It was funny how in so little time your life could turn around and change completely.

"Harmon." she started again, this time softer but still not quite managing to take the bite out of her tone. "Let's just solve this peacefully. If you just let him go I'll put a good word with the D.A. and they'll shorten your stay in prison."

"No, no, no. I'm the one with a knife in Rick's flesh. I'm the one giving the demands here. And my first demand is for you to put down your gun and walk over here. The three of us can have a long, nice talk inside without so many curious ears around."

She was actually considering it, but Rick was shaking his head no and putting a hand up as if he could stop her.

By the frown on his face the knife had already gone a little deeper and she was already lowering her gun, but he raised his hand again and asked her for a minute. For just a minute, his eyes pleaded with her.

She gave him his minute.

"Harmon," he started softly, his voice sounding like smooth velvet "I know that you think that you can get your happiness like this but you can't. I can't be your old boyfriend. I could never take his place and you know that. Deep down you know that. I'm not going to make you happy." Rick gasped as the knife went deeper and she had already placed her gun on the hood of the car and was going to move towards them when he motioned for her to wait. "And maybe you should keep looking for someone that will truly make you happy. I mean, look at my past. I have two divorces, a daughter and a crazy mother living with me. That means that I'm not much of a husband. I screw everything I touch. My father didn't even want me. I make people around me die and go to prison. One of my best friends and mentor went to prison because of me. I'm nosy in a way that makes me dangerous. I stuck my nose where I shouldn't and suddenly people started dying around me. The Captain at the 12th died because of me. Dick Conan to. I got detective Beckett shot. I made her break up with her boyfriends. I'm no good. You shouldn't want me. I mean yes I write books, and yes in books boys are always amazing. That's because you have to be really no-good to recognize good and put it on paper."

Kate was almost in horror.

What?! He really thought that?!

How could he even- That made no sense.

And all she wanted to do was say no. No, no, no. What?! Rick, no.

Harmon seemed thoughtful now, loosening her grip on the knife. Kate could see she was not quite convinced, though. And she knew Castle knew that as well.

She was almost afraid of what he was going to say next.

"Seriously, look at me. I've been following detective Beckett around like a love sick puppy for four years now and I told her I loved her and she did nothing about it. Meaning that I'm not good enough for her. Do you think I would really be good enough for you? Come on, you can do so much better!"

Oh, God! He knew. He knew she knew and this was such a mess!

But it seemed to work. Harmon took the knife out of his back.

"You're right. You're not nearly good enough for me. You're of no use to me now." she said seeming bored.

And then, with a swift move, she buried the knife in Castle's back.

His mouth fell in an 'o' of shock and for a moment everything froze and stood still. And then he was crumbling to the floor, falling with a loud thud.

And then everything sounded like she was underwater as a sob escaped her lips and the cops fired against the woman, making a symphony of gunshots echo in the air.

She ran to Castle then. Kneeling beside him and pressing a hand to his back where the blood just kept coming out. It just kept coming out. It was to much for her fingers to stop.

"Come on, Castle. You can't die on me." she sobbed "Please, don't die on me."

He turned glassy eyes to her, looking without really seeing. She could feel him trying to focus on her. The effort he was doing to stay awake.

He blinked a couple of times, finally focusing his eyes on her and opening his mouth to say something. She leaned closer, keeping her hands pressuring the wound.

He opened his mouth again but no sound came out. He looked at her confused, like he couldn't understand why his voice didn't work.

The paramedics arrived and pushed her off of him, getting hands to work and trying to keep him alive while the blood kept pouring out.

She stood up and unconsciously wipped her bloody hands to her pants, then running her hands through her hair, smearing it with blood.

Castle's eyes were still open and the paramedics where getting ready to put him in the gurney. When they lifted him it must had been too much pain, because his eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out.

They led him to the ambulance, leaving Kate standing there in the porch.

She faintly registered Ryan and Esposito coming over, looking shocked and defeated and in panic.

She remembered that they called them mom and dad. Just to tease. But now she realized that they weren't only her boys anymore. These were Castle's boys to, these two had taken Castle in their little cop family and accepted him as a brother, as one of the boys.

She looked down, only because she couldn't deal with them right now, and saw Harmon's body on the floor with over a dozen wholes. She couldn't find it in herself to care. She just couldn't.

So she stepped away and got in her car. She was going to the hospital. She had to go be with Castle.

She had been stupid enough not to get in that ambulance with him.

She started the ignition and was ready to leave when the door of her car swung open and Esposito lightly pulled her out of the seat, leading her to the back of their car, silently saying that she would go with them, whether she wanted to or not.

She was grateful for it, really. She wasn't sure if she could drive. This was better.

Esposito turned the ignition and drove them away from that house. Away from the cops organizing everything to take Harmon Strike's body to the morgue.

They were all silent during the ride, the only sound was the car flying through the highway and into the nearest hospital.

Beckett leaned back, resting her head in the seat and closing her eyes.

It was funny how in so little time your life could turn around and change completely. But that's how it always goes. It's funny until it isn't. And right now it wasn't.

**A/N:** This chapter is shorter than the others for cliffhanger purposes. And my next update will be only next week on Friday due to the three tests that I'm going to have next week. If I fail any of them I'll get grounded, meaning no computer, meaning no writing.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** I just want to say that I am truly sorry I didn't update yesterday. Really am. I had some internet-y issues so I beg your forgiveness. Please carry on.

**Too Close For Comfort**

He was going to be fine. He was going to be fine. He was going to be fine.

She kept repeating it to herself like a mantra, trying to make herself believe.

She rubbed her hands raw and his blood swirled down the drain.

Oh, God! She had to take it off. Take it off!

His blood was staining her hands and hair and jeans. It was all over her. A constant reminder that Castle had been stabbed.

She sobbed and her knees trembled. Kate clutched the edge of the sink so she wouldn't fall to the floor of the hospital's bathroom. She couldn't keep upright anymore. Just couldn't. Everything was coming down on her like a wave, throwing her down and pushing her underwater, the tide stronger than her. She was drowning. Oh, God.

Castle had been stabbed.

And again it was like she had been stabbed instead. She almost wishes she had.

She moved to the wall facing the door that had no sinks and no stalls, supporting herself on the sinks so she wouldn't fall. She reached the wall and splayed a hand against it, feeling its coldness.

Her knees couldn't take much more of standing, so she let her back fall against the wall and she sank down to the floor.

And then she broke down. For the first time since Castle had been kidnapped, Katherine Beckett let herself break down.

The sobs coming raw from her throat and never stopping. The tears streaming down her face, never minding her attempts to wipe them away.

She broke down because she could lose him. He could die on that operation's table and she didn't know if she could take that. Didn't know if she could take losing him.

And now there worse part came. The part when she started wondering what if.

What if she had shot the woman before she could've done something? What if they had arrived earlier? What if she hadn't listened to Castle and had given to the woman and gone inside and talked? What if? What if? What if?

She knew it was pointless. She knew it wouldn't change anything. But she still asked herself what if?

Alexis was sitting on her couch tapping her finger to her leg and clutching her phone. Waiting.

She was just waiting for Kate to call her and to say that everything was okay, that her dad was on his way home.

She sat and waited. Her grandma was upstairs, pacing until she dug a whole on the floor, making Alexis nervous and a bit uneasy.

She glanced at her watch and frowned. They had gone to save her dad about four hours ago. They should've been back by now. They should've-

She heard heels clinking their way down the stairs and turned to see grams coming down the stairs. Her makeup was a mess. Smudged all over like she had whipped her eyes one to many times.

"Grams."

"Hey, kiddo." she said with a thin smile. And it was so very not her that Alexis got more nervous.

Martha made her way to the couch and sat near her, throwing one arm around her and squeezing lightly.

"He'll be okay." she said trying to reassure her, but her voice waivers and she said it so flatly that it was impossible to really take any comfort in the words.

"I know." she said anyway "Detective Beckett will bring him back safe and sound. She promised."

Martha looked at her funny.

"You know that she can't promise you that, kiddo." she said calmly.

Alexis knitted her eyebrows and scooted a bit farther away. What was happening? Her grandma never acted like this. Never! She was always so full of life and so positive. What had happened to her? She seemed to be waiting for the worse to happen.

"No." Alexis denied, softly.

"Alexis-"

"No." she said a bit more vehemently "She is going to bring him back. He's going to be okay." she got up from the couch and walked towards the door, but then stopped. She didn't want to leave.

She turned on her heels and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

She opened the cabinet and took off her favorite glass. One that her dad had gotten for her. He had brought it from some place that she couldn't remember, and it had two fish swimming around and a big shark chasing the fish. The fish had a little talking balloon saying 'I'm gonna get you!' and it was simple and silly, but she liked it.

She filled it with tap water and turned to join her grandmother back on the couch. It wasn't right to leave her alone. She was going to the same that she was.

Halfway to the couch, her phone rang in her hand indicating that detective Esposito was calling her.

She knitted her eyebrows.

Detective Beckett was supposed to be the one calling her.

She answered the phone.

"Alexis?" his voice sounded wrong. Why did is voice sound wrong?

"Yeah?"

"This is detective Esposito. We found your father." he said and it was supposed to be a good thing, but it sounded wrong. Something wasn't right. His voice was broken and gravelly and she could swear he had been crying if she didn't knew better.

And then he said the words that completely shattered her world.

"He has been stabbed. He's undergoing surgery as we speak."

The glass in her hand fell to the floor as her fingers went slack and the force of gravity worked its course.

No, no, no. Martha's head turned quickly to her. In a split second she understood what was going on, a ragged sob coming out of her as she stood and took the phone from her hand.

_He has been stabbed._

No, he was supposed to be okay.

_He has been stabbed._

Oh, God! No, please God no.

She sobbed, the tears starting to fall down her face quickly has the information settle on her mind and took all the space there, consuming her, shattering everything.

_He has been stabbed._

They had to go to the hospital. They had to- She had to- Oh, God!

She looked up at her grandma that was silently crying while talking on the phone.

"Thank you, detective." she said before ending the call.

"We have to go!" Alexis urged her on "Now! He needs me. He needs-"

Martha put a hand on her shoulder and hugged her. And Alexis grabbed on to her for dear life, needing that. Needing the comfort that only the love of a parent could give to her.

But it somewhat felt wrong. This arms around her were too thin, there was not enough force in it. It wasn't like her dad's strong arms enveloping her and squeezing her tightly and lifting her feet off the ground in one of his bear hugs that where so comforting and felt like home and safe.

It wasn't her father.

Martha let go of her and quietly told her to grab her coat. They had to leave now. She nodded and ran upstairs. Alexis quickly took her coat off of her desk chair and after a quick moment of hesitation she grabbed the necklace that she never wore. The necklace that her dad had bought her a couple years back.

It was simple, made of titanium links, unbreakable, with a little pumpkin hanging from it.

It was supposed to be a joke really, but she needed something to keep her grounded and remind herself that her dad was strong and that he would get trough this.

He was strong. As strong as every single titanium link that made her necklace. Unbreakable.

He was laying flat on his belly. People around him where talking in hushed tones. His head was too fuzzy to understand the exact words, though. He couldn't feel anything from his shoulders down and his head felt heavy, like there was something holding it to the table under him.

Someone wearing scrubs and a mask appeared in front if him and said something, but it was like being underwater. He couldn't hear what she was saying.

He blinked and the woman brought what looked like an oxygen mask in front of his face.

Whatever it was inside of it, pulled him back to the blissful blackness and unconsciousness.

When Kate finally managed to stop sobbing and crying an her level of composure was back, she got up from the floor, washed her face free from the tear stains and tied her hair in a tight bun.

She looked herself in the mirror, trying to find herself there. Trying to get some control over herself and make sure that she wouldn't start sobbing in front of the guys and Alexis.

Oh, God!

_Alexis!_

She had completely forgotten the girl. Oh my God! The kid was probably in the loft waiting for her to call and how could she had even forgotten Castle's daughter?!

So she rushed outside to find Alexis sitting on one of the waiting room chairs with Esposito talking to her.

She stopped in the doorway.

Esposito had called Alexis.

Kate rubbed a hand up and down her face. At least she wouldn't have to tell her Castle had been stabbed.

"Detective Beckett." Alexis called, making Kate's hands to leave her face and fall back along her body.

"Hey, Alexis." she said with a choked voice. She cleared her throat a bit.

Esposito turned to her and she gave him a nod of the head and a thankful smile.

Espo nodded back and moved to stand with Ryan in the corner.

Now that Esposito was out of the way, Kate could see Martha sitting next to Alexis with one armed thrown over the girl's shoulders, which seemed to be doing more to comfort her than to comfort Alexis.

She was standing near the double doors that led to the hallway that she had came out of, way to far to talk to Alexis. So Kate made her feet move and she sat a sit away from Alexis, staying close but not too close.

Alexis looked over at her with a broken expression. Kate did not know what to do or to say, but she gave it a try anyway.

"Alexis, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."

"Oh, stop that nonsense, Kate!" Martha piped in "You sound like Richard. This is nobody's fault but the person who stabbed my boy." Martha says, her voice catching in the word stabbed.

Kate only gave her a nod.

"Grams's right. This is not your fault." Alexis said in a small voice, so much of little broken girl in her, that it made Kate's heart constrict painfully.

"I promised you that I would bring him back safe and sound and I didn't." Kate stated.

"Detective, we both knew that that was a promise that you couldn't keep. I knew that when I asked you. I was just so scared, that I needed reassurance. I still am scared. Now more than ever."

"I'm scared too." Kate admitted. Alexis nodded once and leaned her head into her grandmother's shoulder.

The light from the ceiling reflected in Alexis's necklace. That was when Kate noticed it.

She didn't remember seeing the teenager wearing a necklace before.

"What's that?" Kate asked, pointing at Alexis necklace.

Alexis seemed a bit startled and rose her head from her grandmother's shoulder, blinking confused eyes at her. But it only lasted for a split second because then she was taking the necklace off, pushing it over her head and letting it it hang from one finger.

The little colored pumpkin attached to what looked like titanium links, spun a bit until Kate stayed it with one hand to have a better look.

"It's supposed to be a joke. Because he calls me pumpkin." Alexis explained "He said that this way I would never forget him."

Kate let go of the bright orange pumpkin and touched her necklace while Alexis put hers back on.

And suddenly she understood the meaning.

This was what Castle had done. Given something to Alexis that would make her never forget him. A constant reminder and an anchor. Something you can touch and smile or feel sad and nostalgic about.

He gave that to Alexis in case something happened to him. It was the equivalent to the ring that she carried around her neck.

_This is for the life I lost._

But he had chosen something that would always make Alexis smile because it was attached to a good, warm, loving memory.

And that was so Castle that she had to smile a bit.

Kate leaned back in her chair.

After a while she felt Alexis hand on her arm. She looked over to see two sets of identical blue eyes looking at her.

She nodded with a small smile encouragingly.

They would be okay. All of them. Castle included.


	12. Chapter 12

**Too Close For Comfort**

Kate had her head against the wall, appreciating its coldness and support while she counted every single second that passed with Castle in that surgery. Alexis was sitting beside her and Martha beside Alexis. The three woman supporting each other.

Lanie was standing in a corner with Esposito, talking in hushed tones and Jenny was sitting with Ryan a couple chairs away from her.

They were all here. They were all waiting.

Across the room Lanie was throwing her preoccupied looks that she didn't quite understand. Castle was the one in surgery, not her. She should be worried about him, not her.

When Lanie had arrived, she had gone straight for her. Worried and a little scared. And Kate knew she was afraid she would break down. She knew that, but it was too late. She had already broke down and gotten back up and she had already convinced herself that Castle would be okay. So Lanie didn't need to worry about her at all.

She looked over at Ryan and Jenny. The married couple was supporting on each other, talking nonsense that they both believed in each other's ears.

She looked to her other side to see that Alexis was making an Herculean effort not to fall asleep.

The girl seemed so tired. So drained of all of these. Kate was too and she wished she could sleep. Just close her eyes until it went away. Until it all went away and it was again a normal day at the precinct with smiling Castle offering her coffee and waiting for her. But she knew better. Knew that life didn't work quite that way.

Martha reached for her hand and squeezed. Giving and taking strength. She looked over at her giving the older woman a reassuring smile and a little nod of her head.

Doctors had come and gone trough the double doors and Kate had had too many false hopes to get up every single time a new doctor crossed those doors. That's why when one of the doctors crossed the double doors and went their direction, she didn't noticed.

"Richard Castle's family?" the older man with kind eyes and white sprayed on his brown hair asked.

That was like a bucket of cold water down her head. Made her come back to reality and in less than a second all of them had gotten up and surrounded the doctor.

The man lifted one eyebrow at them.

"You're all his family?"

"Yes." Martha said for all of them.

The doctor just nodded.

"The surgery went successfully. Fortunately the knife didn't penetrate any major organ. He's going to be fine."

And they all let out a sigh of relief.

He was going to be fine.

And the next thing she knew Alexis had her arms thrown around her and was hugging her tightly. Kate hugged back because he was going to be okay.

Oh, God! He was going to be okay and she felt like laughing and crying and really, she was a mess. It was all a mess, but he was going to be okay and what else could she possibly want?!

"We were required to give Mr. Castle's extra drugs because he woke up during surgery, so he'll be asleep for a while."

"Oh, thank you doctor. Thank you so much." Martha said with a huge smile and hugging the doctor impulsively. The man seemed a bit taken aback, but he hugged back, causing Beckett's smile to grow.

"Can we see him?" Alexis asked, pulling the puppy dog eyes and the little pout that Castle sometimes used on her.

The doctor looked at all of them seeming a bit hesitant.

"Yes, but only two at a time, please." he conceded, turning back and calling a nurse to show them the room.

The older man turned to them with a smile one last time and then he left, leaving the young nurse in charge of the matters.

"Hi, I'm Melanie. Who will be going first?" Kate took a step back and motioned for Martha and Alexis to go. The teen looked at her as if she was going to say that she should go first, but Kate shook her head and gave her a reassuring smile.

They should go first. Blood family goes first. Cop family goes after.

Martha and Alexis went trough the double doors and Kate slumped back in her chair with a smile.

Jenny was hugging Ryan and he was smiling like an idiot. Esposito was smiling too; hugging Lanie tentatively.

Jenny and Ryan came towards her holding hands and smiling.

"Me and Jenny are leaving. Castle's okay for now and he's asleep. We'll be back tomorrow."

"Wait up, bro." Esposito called after him "Me and Lanie are going too if that's okay, Beckett."

Kate nodded "I'll stay." she said quietly. And of course they knew that.

The boys left with a slight bounce in their step and a joy that said 'I'm so glad the guy I consider a brother hasn't died'.

"I'll meet you downstairs." Lanie called out after them. "Just tell me one thing, Kate. Are you finally going to say what you really feel to that man or do I have to smack you and-"

"I'll tell him." she said on a sigh. She would. She would tell him because she almost lost him but she didn't.

"Are you serious?" Lanie asked with a slightly high pitched voice.

"Yeah."

Lanie hugged her.

There was a lot of hugging going on today and she really didn't seem to care one bit.

"About damn time, girl!" Lanie said with a smile in her voice and straightened up "If you chicken out on me, I'll smack you." she threatened moving to the exit door.

Martha and Alexis were in there for about fifteen minutes, and in those fifteen minutes Kate patiently waited.

Well, she patiently waited for the first seven minutes or so, while she was still soaking in the fact that he was okay. Then she started getting nervous, bitting her nails and bouncing her knee until she annoyed herself and safely tucked one leg under the other.

And then she started asking herself if this was how it had been. If this was what Castle had felt like when she had been shoot and he had to wait to know if he had lost her and he had to wait to see her again. And then she felt guilty. She felt guilty because the man had all but confessed his undying love for her and her heart had been wrenched by a bullet.

They had really bad timing. Their timing sucked a great deal.

And just like that she felt like laughing although it wasn't funny.

It wasn't funny the near dead experiences and the Tom's and the Gina's of this world that just made everything so damn complicated.

It wasn't funny.

She was starting to go a little crazy waiting in the chair that was growing more and more uncomfortable and how did Castle managed it?! The waiting?! It was nerve wrecking an should clenching and she really felt like screaming.

But then Martha and Alexis got back, passing the double doors that separated here from there and saved her from waiting.

She immediately shoot up and walked over to them.

"You're going next?" the nurse asked kindly. She gave her a short nod, watching Martha and Alexis' smiles. They seemed... lighter. More at peace.

Martha patted her on the shoulder and Alexis gave her one of those little girl smiles that for a split second made the girl look five again.

"Please follow me, miss..." Melanie said.

"Detective Kate Beckett." Kate provided out of habit.

"Oh, of course. Detective. You are is..."

Kate swallowed back the 'None of your business' answer and decided to go with the truth.

"I'm his partner."

"Oh, of course."

Melanie, the kind yet very annoying nurse, stopped at one of the doors and opened it.

"I'll give you some privacy. You have about fifteen minutes, detective."

Kate gave her a nod and tentatively entered the room.

Castle was lying on the hospital bed, face down and seemingly asleep.

She didn't quite know what to do with herself now, so she sat on the chair that someone (probably Martha) had pushed near the bed and looked at his face and it sounded a little creepy if she said it out loud, but Castle had gotten his time to creepily stare at her and now it was her turn.

So she looked at him for a bit, her eyes surveying his face and then his arms and his back.

And something caught her eye there. She squinted and leaned forward a bit to see the broken vessels on his back that formed a purple spider web.

What the hell was that?

Kate pushed the blanket covering him a little, and saw the center of the broken vessel spider web. Two entry wounds at the exact same distance of each other. The purple spider web had began there and spread in the surrounding area.

Kate clenched her teeth. She has tased him. And for the look of it the voltage she used hadn't been the recommended either.

Kate pushed the blanket over his shoulders tucking him in.

Castle sighed in his sleep and Kate's eyes immediately flew to his face.

The frown had disappeared from his face and he seemed at peace. And suddenly she felt so tired, the last couple of days finally catching up to her.

So she rested her head on top of her arm in the bed, near Castle's face and fell asleep.


	13. Chapter 13

**Too Close For Comfort**

The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was Kate Beckett sound asleep mere inches away from is face.

What a sight. He wouldn't mind waking up to this every single day. Wouldn't mind at all.

Someone walked in the room, making him flinch a bit, almost expecting for Harmon to walk in the door with a gun in hand and a vicious smile. But instead a petite nurse with curly, bronze hair cut short and a kind smile walked in.

She stopped when she noticed he was awake.

"Mr. Castle. We didn't expect you to wake up quite so soon."

He cleared his throat a bit, trying very hard not to wake up Beckett.

"I'm full of surprises." he whispered, making the nurse smile.

"I'm Melanie, by the way." she offered.

"I'd tell you my name, but I guess you already know it."

The nurse nodded with a little smile.

"Well, don't mind me. I'm just here to take detective Beckett and then you can rest."

"No." he said, a bit panicked and a bit too loud for sleeping Beckett beside him. "Can you please let her stay? Just for a bit?"

The nurse, Melanie, was about to say no, but Castle expertly pulled his most charming grin and tried again "Please?"

Melanie made a cute little wrinkle with her nose but nodded.

Melanie moved to the feet of the bed and took off his chart, checking something.

Castle looked back at Beckett sleeping and the wind was knocked out of him.

Beautiful.

He could be like this forever, but Kate would probably be uncomfortable by the proximity and he was going to work a serious kink in his neck if he didn't move positions. Being on his stomach wasn't really his favorite position to sleep and he was beginning to get seriously uncomfortable.

He pulled his arms beneath him and pushed himself up, causing his lower back to bend and him to gasp in pain.

Holly shit!

He let himself fall back down with a huff, his eyes screwed shut against the pain.

"Castle." a little preoccupied voice asked.

He opened one eye to see that Kate was now standing, hovering over him and not quite sure of what to do.

"Hey, Kate!" he said in a quick breath, more of a gasp that anything.

He felt Melanie pulling the blanket down and ripping a bandage from his lower back. Apparently he had a bandage.

"You can't make move like that Mr. Castle. You can burst you stitches." the nurse admonished.

"I know that now." he huffed at her. Apparently, pain made him cranky.

"I'll get your doctor for you." Melanie said and left the room.

After the nurse left, they were both quiet.

Castle watched trough one open eye as Kate sat back down and scooted forward.

And suddenly he felt smooth fingers ran trough his hair and sweeping it out of his forehead.

Both of his eyes opened and focused on Kate, that had this little content smile on her face.

"Kate, what happened?" he asked softly, making her hand stop, and for a bit he was afraid that she would stop. Realize what she was doing and stop with a regretful smile and an apology in her eyes. But she didn't. She kept combing his stubborn hair back as she spoke.

"You were stabbed." she said, her voice catching a bit "And then she was shot."

"Who shot her?"

"Everybody."

Of course. Suicide by cop, although he wasn't quite certain that she knew what she was doing when she stabbed him.

He closed his eyes. Kate's fingers were making him sleepy.

"Not you." he sighed. He clearly remembered her putting her gun down.

"Not me." Kate said needlessly.

"She dead?"

"Yeah."

"Poor woman." he sighed, almost asleep.

"What?" Kate asked, taking her hand back and looking at him like he was crazy. Maybe he was a little crazy for thinking that, but he felt sorry for her. Harmon's dead made him sad and he didn't quite know why.

Kate was still looking at him, expecting some sort of explanation, but right now he was so tired. His eyes were getting heavier and heavier.

Perhaps the drugs hadn't completely left his system.

"Talk later, Kate." he said as the sleep took him in.

The doctor arrived moments after Castle fell asleep. He had his chart in hand and was studying something in it.

Kate was still perplexed by Castle's words.

How could he even say something like that?!

_Poor woman!_

That woman had nothing poor about her. Nothing that should be pitied. And she didn't understand. She really didn't understand how he could say something like that. The bitch had _stabbed_ he not see that? And if he couldn't see it he could surely feel it. That much was obvious by his pained expression.

"Miss-"

"Detective." she corrected harshly, her irritation misdirected.

"Of course. Detective Beckett, is it?"

She nodded.

"He'll be asleep for a couple of hours more to give his body the chance to make a full recovery. He got out of surgery only an hour ago and if his body overdoes it, then we might have to take him to surgery again. We are putting him in a induced coma at least until tomorrow afternoon. You probably should go home and get some rest. He'll be fine."

The doctor advised.

She thought about fighting it. Thought about staying, but he would be asleep and she would feel frustrated and useless, so she nodded and left them room with one last glance to Castle.

Martha and Alexis were still in the waiting room, probably waiting for her.

"Hey, Kate." Alexis said with a soft smile.

"The doctor said that they're going to put him in an induced coma, so his body as a chance to rest properly."

Alexis jumped at that "He woke up?"

"Yeah." Kate breathed.

"How did he look?" the teen asked, holding her breath.

"Despite all, he sounded good."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." she took a deep breath to steady herself. Find her balance again. "They say he won't be wakening until tomorrow afternoon."

"We should go home, darling. You too, Kate."

She nodded slowly at the older woman. She really should go home. She felt so tired. So drained from all of this. The thing is: she couldn't. Something in the thought of leaving Castle here all by himself made her uneasy. Especially because she almost lost him. Just a few hours ago, she almost lost him.

Martha seemed to noticed the way she swayed in her spot, not wanting to go.

"Why don't you spend the night?"

Alexis looked at her grandma seemingly surprised but she didn't seem opposed to the idea.

"I don't want to impose."

"Nonsense." Martha said with a theatrical move of her hands. "Richard would never forgive me. And you can take a nice warm bath."

"I must look pretty bad."

Martha gave her a motherly look.

"You do." she stated "And a good night of sleep will do you good. In your apartment you probably won't be able to sleep."

"Yes. You should sleep over, Kate."

Both red heads looked at her with those blue eyes so much like Castle's and yet so different.

"Okay." she heard herself say, her mouth talking without her brain's consent.

Both woman smiled at her and guided her out of the hospital.

Martha and Alexis were taking a bath in the two bathrooms upstairs, so she had to take her bath in Castle's bathroom where everything smelled like him and she had to use his shampoo what made_ her _smell like him.

She got out of the bathroom, wrapped up in one of Castle's big, fluffy towels. Alexis had left one pair of her leggings on top of Castle's bed and what looked like one of Castle's t-shirts that would be way too big for her.

She quickly got dressed and sat on the bed, giving herself a moment to just breathe.

Her eyes glanced across the room. She had never been here before. She liked it. It was very... Castle. The rich tones and the little touches that made this a home.

Her eyes caught the picture frames in the bedside table. There was one of Alexis riding piggyback in Castle's back. One with the three of them, Alexis, Martha and Castle, at some sort of event. Maybe a gala, judging by the gorgeous dresses and the way Castle looked all smoothed in that suit.

Near that, was Castle and little Alexis walking off, only seeing their silhouettes. And next to it-

Kate stopped breathing for a second.

Next to it was a picture of her. And she didn't remember taking that picture. Her hair was falling on her face and she was smiling. Castle must have taken it when she wasn't looking.

She didn't expect that. At all.

It was... it was- yeah, she loved this guy. This ridiculous, adorable, beautiful man that loved her back.

She shook her head at herself when that silly smile that only appeared.

So she laid back in Castle's bed and fell asleep thinking about him and how he was okay.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:** I want to apologize for my lack of knowledge in wound treatments and other medical-y stuff. Also, the beginning of this chapter is pretty crappy. Please endure the crap until you get to the good stuff. Thank you.

: : : :

**Too Close For Comfort**

: : : :

When they arrived at Castle's hospital room he was propped up on his side and chatting with some nurse.

When the nurse saw them she left the room with a smile on her face. She seemed a little starstruck. Probably a fan.

Martha and Alexis were the first trough the door and Castle's face lit up when he saw them.

"Oh, Richard." his mother said, approaching the bed and grasping one of Castle's hands.

"Hello, Mother." he said with a soft smile.

"Dad?!"

"Hey pumpkin. Hey! You're wearing the necklace I gave you." his smile grew a little bit and then he looked at her.

She could see the happy look in his eyes when he realized that she was here.

"Hey, Kate."

"Hi, Castle."

He gave her that dazzling smile. The one that made her feel like she was the only on in the world.

Martha was sitting in the chair near the bedside and Alexis was sitting on the bed, near her father's hip.

"Kate." Castle called softly "Come here."

She went.

"You think you can smuggle some coffee in here?" he whispered in a conspiratorial tone, making her laugh.

He smiled broadly at her.

"But seriously. The nurses here don't let me get up and I need coffee. Even if it's monkey pee battery acid."

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Castle."

He pouted at her adorably.

"What about you, daughter? Can you go get coffee for good old dad?" he asked Alexis, winking at her and making the girl smile.

"You admitting you're old, dad?" she teased back making Castle splutter.

"You have to face that you are getting a little old, Castle."

"Can't stay young forever, kiddo."

Rick pouted at them.

"No fair. You're ganging up on me."

Kate smiled while Alexis gave a short laugh. Martha swatted him on the chest making him gasp and scrunch his face in pain.

Her heart constricted painfully and suddenly all three women were hovering over him.

He breathed trough his nose and slowly opened his eyes, putting on a smile.

"I'm fine. It's fine." he assured the three of them. This time she didn't knew if she believed him.

"I'm sorry, kiddo. I-" Martha started apologizing, but Castle cut her off.

"It's okay, mother. I'm fine."

"Richard-"

"I'm fine." he said again, reassuringly.

"Dad?" Alexis asked with a shaking voice "Why does your chest hurts?"

He made a face and now Kate was afraid of the answer to that question. She had seen the taser marks in his back and she was afraid of how his chest might look like.

"You don't want to know."

"Dad, I'm not a kid anymore."

"Believe me, pumpkin. It's not pretty. Not a thing I want you to see."

He reached for Alexis hand and squeezed it. Alexis squeezed back. And just like that, the teen backed off.

And then Castle masterfully steered the conversation the other way.

He happily talked with Alexis and Martha and tried to engage her too in that conversation, but she was happy to just stand and watch. Watch him carefully because something wasn't quite okay. Castle was the type of guy that whined to no end when he got injured, so he could get all of the attention but he wasn't doing that. And that told her that it must've been worse than he was letting out.

She wondered what he was hiding beneath that hospital gown and she wondered what led him to call his kidnaper and torturer poor woman.

But Castle wasn't giving her a chance to really ask and she didn't want to do it in front of his family. So she pushed the other chair that was in the other side of the room and sat on it, watching Castle interact with his family and letting her heart settle on how he was okay.

: : : :

"Well, I think we should grab a snack. What do you think, Alexis?" Martha asked throwing a meaningful glance towards Kate.

Yeah, that must've been where Castle got his subtlety.

Alexis wavered a bit, looking between Kate and her father but then nodded.

Kate should really say something in the lines of 'Don't bother yourselves because of me. You're his family.' but she couldn't. She really needed to talk to Castle. She needed to talk to him about so many things.

She sighed as the two women said their goodbyes and promised to be back soon, leaving she and Castle alone.

Okay. This was it. Time to talk, Kate.

Castle sighed heavily.

"What do you want to know?" he asked softly, blue eyes trained on her.

So many things.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you think she's a poor woman?"

He sighed heavily and shook his head like he didn't knew the answer, but then he started talking.

"Because it's sad, I think. I mean you try. You try during your entire life to find that person that can give you happiness and you fail in doing it so many times that you give up. She didn't gave up. She kidnapped me instead, which is wrong and I know she was a psychopath and all of that, but my point is: she tried and failed and went crazy because of it and that's sad."

She slowly nodded her head, trying to understand his logic.

"She killed people, Castle."

"I'm not excusing her. I'm saying that to some extent I understand her logic. But I'm a best-selling author that gets paid to think like a psychopath, so it ain't that strange that I understand her, when you think about it." he said with a small smile and a shrug of one shoulder.

She nodded, once again trying to understand.

"Next question." Rick said mockingly.

"Right before she stabbed you. You said some things. You believe in what you said?"

"For a while, yeah I did. But then I thought good and hard about it and realized that things weren't like I first thought. I mean it takes two to fail a marriage. My dad is probably CIA, so that explains a lot. I still think that I'm partially responsible for all that has happened to you, but- I guess I'll just have to deal with some things."

She furrowed an eyebrow at him.

"You're not responsible for my shooting, Castle. Or Captain's dead or anything. They are."

He smiled bitterly "The thing is that I am. I am a little bit."

"You're not."

He huffed at her.

"Kate. You have to see things like they are."

She folded her arms over her chest and stared him down.

"What's under the gown?" she asked suddenly making him cringe.

"My ruggedly handsome self." he answered teasingly receiving a hard look. "She liked to play with knives. It's a H."

"What?"

"It's a H, carved with a knife." he said quietly.

That shocked her to silence.

What? Bitch had carved a H on him. If this didn't felt so real and if she wasn't so shocked by it, she might laugh.

"Thought you were going to ask me the most important question. Or are we going to keep pretending."

"What?"

"I know that you heard me. That day. At the funeral. When you got shoot." he kept talking quietly, suddenly seeming so tired.

"I heard you, Castle." she confirmed "The thing is: did you heard me?"

It was his turn to look confused.

"At the swings, Castle. Did you heard me?" she clarified.

"I heard you, Kate. But sometimes waiting outside the walls can get lonely."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Not your fault."

She scooted her chair closer and placed her elbows on the mattress, supporting her head on her hands.

"If it's any consolation, it's pretty lonely inside the walls as well."

He smiled softly "It's not. Makes it worse."

"You're wrong, Castle."

"I don't think so."

She smiled softly at him "No. Before. You were wrong. You're good enough. More than good enough. You're more than I can ask for."

His entire expression changed. His eyes widened and his mouth fell in a perfect 'O'. And then, the most beautiful smile took over his face, all eye-crinkling and awe and hopeful.

And oh God! She loved him. So much.

She scooted a bit closer and kissed him. She kissed with all she had. And he kissed back, bringing one hand to cup her cheek and hold her right there. Right where his mouth could reach hers easily.

He broke off the kiss entirely too soon and looked at her. Their faces mere inches apart and she could see his eyes up close and they were so blue that she felt she could drown in them and it would be all right.

He was smiling at her, still so beautiful and open and warm, that, for a moment, she forgot about the stabbing and the nerve wrecking kidnapping and all of that. She just let herself be.

"You should step outside those walls of yours. It's a beautiful day outside, Kate Beckett." he said and it was so sappy and yet so right that she felt like laughing. Instead she kissed him again, running her tongue lightly over his bottom lip and then pulling back. Teasing him. She was good at teasing.

"No fair. I can't do nothing about it." he complained lightly, still smiling.

And it hit her. How beautiful he was. How lucky she was for having him. Lucky that he loved her.

"It's a beautiful day outside." she whispered back with a silly smile. And it was okay. It was okay to be a little silly when the man you loved was right here near you and he was just so damned good.

He laughed a bit at that and brought her closer, with a hand behind her neck, for another kiss.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N:** Last chapter.

: : : :

**Too Close For Comfort**

: : : :

He was finally allowed to go home, and man it felt good! Being restrained to a hospital bed during long periods of time was _not_ one of Richard Castle's favorite pastimes.

He took a deep breath as he walked slowly into the loft, wincing slightly when the wound in his back pulled.

"Dad!" Alexis sprigged off the couch and went to hug him, but stopped midway, remembering that hugging might not be such a hot idea after all.

"Hey, pumpkin." he said, pushing back the ache and giving her a smile and slowly making his way towards her.

He was sick of the careful touches and the way everyone was being so damn careful around him. He didn't consider himself a touchy guy, but the way that his daughter hesitated before hugging him and the way she held herself back, not letting herself lean on him was driving him crazy.

So he made his way towards her and hugged her as best as he could and he just told the flare of pain in his back to shut the hell up because he was hugging his daughter!

Yeah, he really was getting a little crazy.

Mother came down the stairs with a dramatic flair of her hands and one of her bright outfits that outshone everyone.

"Richard!" she said in that way of hers, happy and a little over the top.

"Mother." he smiled back, keeping Alexis at his side in an one armed hug and let his mother hug him somewhat awkwardly.

"Where's Kate?" she asked with a knowing glint in her eyes.

"Right here." Kate said from the doorway.

"Entirely too far." he complained, pouting a bit at her. And - wait for it - there it was! His favorite eyeroll. He smirked at her and lifted one of his eyebrows at her, telling without words that she should get her butt over here.

Well, maybe not quite in that words. If he ever told Kate to get her butt anywhere she would probably kick his ass.

Kate shut the door and came over where they were standing, letting herself hang a little back so his family could have space. Which was ridiculous because his mother would hug her and force her into the group.

And just as he thought it, his mother said "Oh, Kate darling!" and hugged her twirling her a bit, making Kate look stunned for a bit. He laughed at her face and went to sit on the couch. All this standing wasn't doing any good to his back.

He sat heavily on the couch, being careful not to touch is back to the back of the couch.

Alexis sat next to him and carefully snuggled up.

He sighed happily. He had missed this.

"Castle." Kate called out, making his head come up to look at her "We should start dinner. The boys will be here any minute now."

"But I don't wanna." he whined half-heartedly.

"It was your idea, so you'll get your ass up and you'll come help with dinner."

He smiled.

Bossy. He liked it.

"Coming." he said getting up from the couch and moving towards the kitchen, pulling Alexis along with him.

Kate smiled at him and it stunned him for a minute. How beautiful she was. How they were really doing this. Finally doing this. Thank God!

He shook himself out of it and put hands to work. Preparing dinner with the help of his daughter and his. . . girlfriend? No. That didn't sound right.

Partner?! Partner! Yeah, that was good. That fit him and Kate perfectly. Partners. Having each other's back and being at the same level. No more. No less.

He liked that.

Everyone was helping to prepare the dinner and it felt good to have everyone around him again. It was good to have his mother chattering away and giving Kate and him this look that just screamed 'I told you so'. It was good to have his daughter outsmart him with her witty remarks and be able to see her smile. It was good to have Kate here, with is family, helping and smiling widely and keeping a close eye on him while he pretended that he didn't noticed.

It was good to finally be home.

: : : :

Castle was sitting at the head of the table with Kate at his right and Alexis at his left. He had arranged it so Jenny was in front of Ryan and Lanie was in front of Esposito with his mother in the other end of the table.

The dinner was delicious and he had yet to know what was it that Kate sneaked in the pan to make it this good. He had no doubt in his mind that it had been her to make dinner taste this good. And they were talking and having a good time like the incident hadn't happened.

He had been needing this. An affirmation that everything was okay. That everything was going back to normal and this would just be one other thing that they avoided talking about. And he was fine with it.

"So you're going to college soon?" Jenny was asking Alexis.

"Next year, I hope."

"Anything particular in mind?"

"I was thinking Stanford or maybe Oxford."

He choked on his food, making everyone in the table turn to him. "You realize that that's in England, right?" England was really far away. Really, really, really far away. How was he supposed to live with the knowledge that his daughter was all alone in Oxford.

Alexis rolled her eyes at him.

"Yes, dad. And you're always telling me to try new things. England will be new."

"Oh, Richard. Please! Let the girl live her life."

"Yeah, and nowadays there's Skype and you can hop on a plane and go visit here." Kate supplied.

He huffed at the three of them "I am so not liking this ganging up on me thing you have going on here. Besides who will play laser-tag with me?" he pouted.

"Kate can play laser-tag with you. Right, Kate?"

Kate startled for a minute, but she recovered quickly and gave him this slow, sexy smile all hungry and lust and bit her lip.

"Yeah, I could play laser-tag with you, Castle." and then her hand was on his knee and sliding up, up, up.

"Mom, dad. Gross!" Esposito complained.

"No eye-sex in front of us. Seriously, ew." Ryan said with a mocking disgusted look on his face.

Kate's hand left his leg, for much of his dismay, and she laughed at the boys and lifted an eyebrow at Ryan "Eye-sex?! You've been talking to Lanie haven't you?"

Ryan shrugged at her and gave them that smile that just lit up his eyes and made him look like a little boy.

"Girl, you'd have to be blind not to see all the eye-sex that was going on between you two."

"I think I'm traumatized for life." Alexis stated, covering her ears.

"You're traumatizing my daughter, Lanie."

"Ryan traumatized her too." Lanie supplied with a devious smile.

"You're just mad because I won the bet." Ryan gloated.

"What bet?" his mother immediately piped in.

"The bet we had on when Castle and Beckett would get together. I won." Ryan cheered.

"How much?"

"A lot. Seriously. You two cost a lot of detectives a lot of money."

"I'll buy them donuts." Castle offered with a smile.

"What about me. I lost a lot of money too." Lanie complained.

"I'll buy you a donut too, then."

"I'll take a cappuccino instead."

"Noted." Castle replied laughing.

Castle looked at the scene before him. Really looked.

Esposito and Ryan where bickering with each other, Martha, Alexis and Jenny seemed to be discussing something about plays and Kate and Lanie where chatting away.

And then the sudden realization of what they were hit him full force.

They were a family. They were his family. All of them people that he loved and cared about.

And it was right then. Right when that realization hit him that he understood something much deeper: he was happy. He was truly happy with this bunch of people who had flaws and made mistakes and that, for some crazy reason, had let him be part of their family too.

Sometimes happiness finds you and makes your family grow and gives you the most extraordinary person in the world to fall in love with. And right now, boy, was he happy!


End file.
